


Healer (A Park Chanyeol Short Story)

by my_sonder



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Angst, Comedy, EXO - Freeform, F/M, Fanfiction, Fantasy, Hopeless Romantic, Park Chanyeol - Freeform, Park So Dam - Freeform, Romance, Short Story, Supernatural - Freeform, kpop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-13
Updated: 2020-09-13
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:27:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 34,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26439487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/my_sonder/pseuds/my_sonder
Summary: Son Nari is a 21 year old girl who seems to live a normal life. She lives with her busy working father, works two part time jobs, and even dreams of becoming a highly skilled barista some day. However, she's not completely normal. From a young age, Nari was cursed with a healing power. Of course, it has a great advantage: she can take away the pain of those around her, but of course, all power comes with a consequence. All the pain she takes away from people transfers upon herself. What will happen when this bright girl meets a boy in great need of pain relief?(Trigger warning: This isn't a really big trigger warning, but there is talk of suicide and will be other mature content such as abuse, illness, cursing, etc. Read with caution if you are sensitive with these topics)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	1. Power

"Mommy..." Nari whispered, her voice quiet with disbelief. She stood at the doorway, clutching the white door frame as she watched the doctor and her father stand beside the queen-sized bed, her mother's fragile body laying down on top of it. Nari stayed put as her father slowly walked over to her and knelt down, his eyes puffed and red with a tear stained face. He had looked as if he hasn't slept in ages. He looked into his daughters eyes with his best effort, careful not to let it show his pain too much.

"Nari... Go downstairs and play with your toys." he said, his voice cracking in the middle of his sentence.

Nari barely glanced at him before looking back at her mother. She knew she was sick... And she knew it was because of her. She had no intention of leaving, even if she wasn't allowed in the room. She didn't want to leave her mom's side, or her mom to leave her side.

"Honey. Mommy is-"

He was cut off by the sound of the heart monitor that was by Nari's mother's side, hooked up to her. The doctor looked at the both of them with sorrowful eyes, the monitor's sound growing to a dead line. Nari widened her eyes as she felt tears roll down her cheeks, running past her father and to her mother's side.

"Mommy... Mommy please don't go!" she shouted, clutching her mom's arm and shaking her.

Nari's father stayed knelt on the floor, his head now buried in his hands while he cried, quivering and shaking.

The doctor put a hand on Nari's shoulder, watching as she sobbed and shook her mom's arm.

"I-I'm sorry... I'll be hurt, mommy! Please!" she pleaded desperately.

Nari's father finally stood up and made his way over to his daughter, picking her up in his arms. She sobbed harder and struggled in his arms, punching at her father's chest.

"Mommy!" she shouted painfully, her father holding her in his arms and resting his palm on the back of her head.

Her father rocked her back and forth, trying to calm her down while she sobbed, tears rolling down his cheeks as well.

"M-Mommy.. M-Mommy..-"

-

Nari gasped as she bolted up in bed, sweat and tears staining her face.

She panted and ran her fingers through her short, mocha brown hair and looked at the time. It was almost time for her to get up for work so she sighed and dragged herself out of bed, leaving her bed unmade as she made her way to the bathroom. She took a shower and did the necessities before getting dressed and heading downstairs.

As she made her way down to the living room, she saw her father sitting at the table with a pencil in his hands. He was working on his newest book that he was writing since his occupation is an author. However, he's always getting overworked and doesn't always get recognized for what he writes.

Nari walked passed him and glanced at his work before back at him. "Good morning, dad."

Her father didn't even look at her, just merely waving his hand a bit. "Morning, Nari."

Nari exhaled softly before puffing out her cheeks and making her way to the kitchen. She rummaged through the cabinets and refrigerator before deciding to just go with a slice of leftover pizza that they had since they didn't really have much food. She took the cold slide and sat down at the table with her father.

Her father glanced up at her and to the slice of pizza, his glasses resting on the bridge of his nose. "Can't you eat anything healthier than that?"

Nari looked up at him mid-bite, blinking blankly before chewing the piece. "Nope."

Her father sighed and used his index finger to push his glasses up, shaking his head before going back to what he was doing.

Nari finished up her pizza and stood up, grabbing her phone and shoving it inside her pocket.

"I'll be going now." she announced.

"Be safe." he called, not even watching as she went out the door.

That was how her mornings usually went. She never spoke much to her father ever since he got his new job. He's always stressed and is never interested in what she has to say. She's gotten used to the silence though and respects that he doesn't want to be bothered.

Nari made her way down the street, her hands in her jacket pockets. Once she got to the bus stop, she waited for about five minutes before it arrived and got on. She leaned her head against the window as soon as she got on, tapping the heel of her shoe against the ground. Once she made it to her stop, she got off the bus and started walking to her destination which was the cafe she worked at.

She grinned before pushing open the doors, making her way to the back where Gong Joo and Dom were. Gong Joo is one of the older workers at the cafe. She is thirty four years old and is Nari's closest friend. She takes care of Nari and watches out for her. Dom is the other worker who works at the cafe and is pretty close to Nari as well, never failing to mess around with her since she's the newbie, and because she's younger than him. He's twenty five years old and treats Nari like a younger sister.

Nari picked up her small brown apron and slung it around her neck. Before she can tie it around her waist to secure it, a pair of hands clamped over hers and started tying the strings for her. She turned her head in surprise but calmed down when it was just Dom, smiling cheekily at her.

"Greetings, Nari." he mused, finishing up the tying. He shifted himself so he was leaning against the counter and tilted his head. "Sleep well last night?"

Nari smiled at him and nodded, turning her body to face him. "Yes, I did. What about you?"

Dom scrunched up his face and shook his head. "Only got three hours. My grandma was in the hospital all night so I had to stay with her."

Nari's smile dropped and flushed with concern. "Oh my gosh, really? I'm so sorry, Dom."

Dom just chuckled and shook his head. "It's alright. The doctor said it was just from overworking herself. He said she'll be fine after a few days of rest." he reassured.

"I told him to stay home and take care of her, but the boy never listens." said Gong Joo, walking into the back where the rest were.

"Gong Joo!" Nari chimed, smiling at her. It was always a great pleasure to see her.

"I told you I'm fine." Dom argued, pouting his lips.

Nari narrowed her eyes at him and poked the side of his head, making him turn his head towards her. "The bags under your eyes don't fool me. Go home and rest." she insisted.

Dom crossed his arms and shook his head. "I won't. I promise I'm okay!"

Gong Joo shook her head and grabbed what she needed before walking back out to the front. Nari looked at Dom and sighed.

"Fine, you stubborn boy." she grumbled, turning and heading back out to the front.

She grabbed some cleaning supplies and made her way over to a table, clearing it off before wiping it down. She continued to clean and do what was needed the whole time at work, which lasted most of the day. Dom eventually went home to take care of his grandma, leaving Nari to take over the rest of his shifts which lasted all the way until nighttime. She finished everything up, said by to Gong Joo, and made her way out of the cafe.

_

Nari made her way down the sidewalk, the street lights shining with pretty colors. The beeping and the sound of tires rolling across the ground filled the air. Nari actually loves walking alone at night. The weather was nice and it gave her time to just think. As she approached the crosswalk, she pressed the button to cross and waited patiently for the little green person to appear on the other side of the street. As she stood there for a few seconds, the light hadn't budged when she felt a man push passed her, stumbling out into the road. Luckily, there weren't too many cars, but being in the city, there was still quite a few. She watched in fear as he stumbled drunkenly to the middle, stopping in his steps. She heard some honks, her heart beating fast inside her chest. She panicked, not knowing if she should help this ignorant person or not. Her eyes flashed to the signal across the street that still hasn't changed.

She tapped her foot and looked around in panic before turning her head to a pair of headlights that didn't seem like they were intending to stop. She couldn't think anymore and suddenly ran out to where the man was, grabbing his arm and yanking him back to the sidewalk she was just at, both of them falling on the floor.

Nari winced as they hit the ground and looked up at the man she had saved, giving him a stern glare. The man, who looked fairly young but seriously wasted, winced as well and groaned, sitting up while holding his hand to his head. He turned towards the irritated female and kicked his foot like he was throwing a tantrum, his face not happy.

"Why the hell did you do that?!" he shouted at her.

Nari widened her eyes and scoffed, clenching her fist. "Why the hell did you do that?!" she shouted back at him.

They both stood up, the man stumbling over his feet but catching himself. "You ruined it. You fucking ruined it!"

Nari dusted herself off and narrowed her eyes at him. "Ruined what? Your suicide attempt? What the hell were you even thinking?" she scolded angrily.

The man growled and grabbed her shirt collar. "What is it to you? Is it any of your business?"

Nari widened her eyes but shoved him off of her, fixing her shirt. "It is my business when I see someone about to kill himself! I'm not just going to stand there and let you get hit! No one would!"

The man clenched his fists and stumbled again, continuing to sway slightly from the alcohol intake. "Plenty of people would."

As his voice toned down a bit, her anger withered slightly. "Well I wouldn't. If you wanna die so badly, do it where no one can see you."

The man swallowed, his mouth becoming dry suddenly. "I'll take your advice." he said, a bit groggily as he turned away from her.

Nari shook her head, looking away. "Drunky." she whispered under her breath before looking at him again, feeling a bit guilty for being so harsh with him. "W-Wait."

The man stopped and sighed, closing his eyes briefly.

"No matter your reason for dying... Don't do it. You seem young and shouldn't waste your life drowning in self-pity. You shouldn't get drunk like this and do what you did tonight. There are people who worry-"

Nari was cut off as she was once again grabbed by the collar, his face closer to hers than before.

"Don't talk like you know my life. Don't talk at all. You don't have any idea what I go through. I don't know you or give a damn about your life, so how about you stop running your mouth like you know me, alright?" he said wrathfully.

Nari cringed at the strong alcohol smell from his breath, looking up at him with determination in her eyes. "You're right, I don't know you, nor do I care about you. I don't know your life , but I do know that you shouldn't live your life this way. I'm sure you have your issues and it's difficult and I know you may think that there's no hope, but you're not alone! Life sucks and if you wanna think pathetic thoughts like killing yourself is the answer and leave the people who have fought with you until now, then be my guest. I'll stay out of your life, stranger."

Nari moved his hands off her, his grip softening after hearing her speech. She walked over to the button to press to cross the street again but before she could, she heard a collapsing sound and looked over to the man who she had just got done talking to who was now on the ground. He was clutching his leg and crying out in pain, breathing heavily. Nari widened her eyes and ran over to him, kneeling next to him with that same panicking feeling from earlier.

"What happened? What's wrong?!" she questioned, clutching his shirt.

"J-Just.. Agh.. Just g-go!" he said, his voice quivering from being in pain.

Nari examined the man who was in some sort of pain, extremely puzzled and didn't know what to do. She couldn't use her power... She told herself she wouldn't anymore. Gong Joo would also be really mad if she found out. But she couldn't just let him suffer like this. No one would help her at this hour either. She was also too weak to carry him to a hospital, and an ambulance would take too long. She bit her lower lip, trying to think of something to do but she couldn't drag this on any longer.

"What is hurting you? Be specific." she asked, eyeing where he was clutching. She just needed to be sure.

The man's pain didn't ease but seemed to get worse as tears even streamed down his face, shaking his head. "W-Why do you need to.. agh.. know?!" he said through clenched teeth.

"Hurry and tell me!" she shouted, rushing.

"M-My leg!" he groaned, clutching his leg tighter as his knee was bent upwards towards his face.

Nari nodded and moved his hands away, touching his leg with both of her hands. The man tried to struggle, but the pain was too unbearable to continue with it, so he let her do whatever she needed to do. No thoughts but the desire for relief went through his head. Nari closed her eyes and let her inner magic do its work. It took about a minute or so for the pain to slowly ease from his leg, his breathing and cries lessening and becoming quieter. Pretty soon, he couldn't feel any pain and was left with a numb feeling. He laid on his back as his chest went up and down, sweat dripping down his face and neck.

Everything became quiet, only the sound of the passing cars and occasional horns. The man opened his eyes as he felt the girl's hands move off of his leg, turning his head to the side to see her. He eyed her curiously, just barely processing what she had done. No one has ever eased the pain in his leg whenever he's had those episodes, which is often. He would still be writhing in pain if it wasn't for her. However, the alcohol and shock was too much for him to handle and couldn't find the words to utter. Nari looked normal. Her breath was a bit heavy since using her power drains her energy by a lot. She looked over at the man who just stared at her with curious, but worn out eyes, and smiled.

"Get home safely, will you?" she whispered, loud enough for him to hear and stood up.

She walked away normally, but as soon as she left his line of sight, she started limping. The pain had transferred to her own body. That was how her power worked. She could heal people of any physical pain, but it always was put onto her own body. The same amount of pain, or worse. It also drains her energy and weakens her body by a lot, which is why she doesn't use her power as much as she wished she could. If she was able to, she would take the pain away from everyone in the world, but she has to work. She has to be selfish. No one knows about her power except her father and Gong Joo. Both of them have ordered her to keep it hidden, so that's what she's done. There's been an occasional slip up, such as this one.

She limped all the way to her house, trying to hurry so her father doesn't get worried. Of course, he would probably be sleeping so wouldn't notice anyways. The pain was already starting to fade as she snuck in slowly, making sure not to make any loud noises. As she made it to her kitchen, she gasped as she saw her father asleep on the kitchen table, his glasses crooked and pencil resting lightly in his hand. She exhaled quietly and tiptoed quietly around him, plucking the pencil out of his hand and setting it next to his book. She also slid his glasses off carefully while she was at it and sat them down next to the book as well, leaning down and giving him a small smooch on the top of his head before scurrying off to her room. Once she got there, she passed out on her bed, not having any energy to even take off her shoes.


	2. Delivery

The next morning, her alarm clock went off as it did every morning, exactly at six o'clock am. She reached over onto her nightstand and turned the alarm off, groggily sitting up. The pain from last night was gone, but she was still exhausted and a little weak. She got up and got ready for her most dreaded job: chicken delivery.

She worked the chicken delivery three out of seven days a week, one day going there, and the other going to the cafe with Sunday off. That was her usual weekly routine.

By the time she made it out to the kitchen, her dad was there once again with a pencil in his hand, glasses slid down to the tip of his nose, and his eyes focused on the dark lettering on the page. This time, she wasn't in the mood to greet him and just headed off silently out the door and to her job. When she made it to the place, she walked in and made her way to the back to collect her deliveries.

"Today's a busy day so you'll need to hurry back, you hear? I have fifteen deliveries to start you off with and I'll double it once you come back. You can handle that, right?" the assistant manager said.

Nari wanted so badly to just scream at him and tell him it was too much, but instead she politely smiled. "I can handle it."

He nodded and gave her the list of addresses and boxes filled with chicken deliveries. She struggled to carry them all outside to where her scooter was but succeeded in tying them all down. She put on her helmet and rode off to the locations.

On her tenth delivery, it was already almost noon. She approached the gate of the house, admiring how big the house was and how fancy it looked. She searched around for the button so they could open the gates for her and pressed it.

"Chicken delivery!" she announced, taking her hand off the button and waiting patiently for a response.

The woman's voice spoke through the speakers. "One moment please."

Soon after that, the gates had opened and allowed her to go through. She drove her scooter into the lot of the house, parking the scooter and taking off her helmet. She sat it down and picked up the chicken box, walking to the front door. She rang the doorbell and waited patiently, looking around as she waited.

Not too long after ringing the bell the door opened, revealing a thin, brunette-haired woman.

She looked down at Nari and smiled. "Please come in. I just did my nails and they're still wet." she said, putting her hands out and showing her newly painted rose pink nails.

Nari nodded and walked inside as the woman moved to the side to let her in. She made her way down the hall slowly, looking around as she did so. The woman led Nari to the kitchen but before she could set down the chicken, she heard someone walk in. She turned to see who it was and to her surprise, it was the drunk man from last night. Her, as well as the man's, eyes widened and she quickly turned her head away.

"Hey, you're the girl from last night!" he said, pointing at her with disbelief on his face.

Nari nervously shook her head without looking at him, setting the chicken on the counter. "I-I believe you're mistaken."

The man shuffled over to Nari and grabbed her arm, turning her around to face him. He recognized those worried brown eyes he saw looking down at him yesterday as he writhed in pain. He couldn't stop thinking about what she did yesterday, causing him to have an even worse hangover headache than he would have. He couldn't process it. It made no sense to him.

"What did you do to me yesterday?" he questioned roughly, almost as if he was angry.

Nari looked up at him worriedly, trying to pull her arm out of his grip. "I don't know what you're talking about. Please let go of me." she asked calmly, avoiding eye contact.

"Chanyeol, let go of the poor girl." the woman said, putting her hand on Chanyeol's arm and taking it off.

Nari rubbed her arm and stepped away from him.

Chanyeol glared at Nari before looking at the woman and putting his hands on her shoulders. "Mom, she stopped the pain."

"What?" his mom said in concern.

Chanyeol gulped, his mouth becoming dry. "She stopped the pain. Somehow... she took it away."

Chanyeol's mom looked at him in disbelief, shaking her head slightly. "She... took away the pain?" she repeated.

Chanyeol nodded and looked at Nari. "Yes."

Chanyeol's mom looked at Nari as well and sighed, looking at Chanyeol. "Are you sure you weren't mistaken? It might have just went away on its own."

Chanyeol didn't break eye contact with Nari before shaking his head. "No... she definitely did something."

"You were drunk and trying to kill yourself," Nari blurted out. "You obviously weren't in the right mindset. All I did was try to calm you down but you were in too much pain so I left."

Chanyeol's mom widened her eyes and looked at her son. "You were trying to what? Chanyeol..." she said, her eyes tearing up and raising a hand to his cheek.

Chanyeol moved his mom's hand away and walked in front of Nari.

Before he could say anything, Nari put out her palm. "I have more deliveries. I should charge you extra for keeping me here longer than I have to be."

Chanyeol clenched his fists as he glared at her.

His mom took out her purse and grabbed some money, placing it into Nari's hand. "There's extra there. I'm sorry for keeping you here longer than needed, and I'm sorry for my son's behavior."

Nari accepted the money and put it in the bag before bowing her head. "Enjoy your meal."

With that, she glanced once more at Chanyeol and turned around, heading back out of the house and to her scooter. Once Nari was gone, Chanyeol's mom turned to her son.

"Chanyeol, talk to me. What exactly were you doing last night and why-"

Before she could finish, Chanyeol turned around and stormed through the kitchen door and upstairs to his room, leaving his mom in tears.

_

As soon as Nari's shift was over, she made her way to the cafe where she felt most at home. She walked in and sat at a table, putting her head in her arms. Gong Joo and Dom immediately made their way towards her and sat around her, exchanging confused looks with each other before nudging Nari.

"Hey, why so down, butterfly?" Gong Joo asked.

Nari looked up at them and sighed, shaking her head. "Just a tiring day. Almost one hundred deliveries."

They both gasped at her answer. "Is that even legal? I think that's child labor." Dom said angrily.

"She's not a child." Gong Joo corrected.

"Well if she was, it would be child labor." Dom defended.

Gong Joo rolled her eyes and petted Nari's head. "You should really talk to your boss about this, Nari... You look exhausted."

"He won't listen. He'll just hit me and give me more work." Nari muttered.

Dom slammed his fist against the table angrily, alerting Nari and Gong Joo.

"Does your boss really hit you? I'm going to fight him." Dom announced, standing up.

Gong Joo grabbed his shirt before he could move and sat him back down. "We aren't going to fight anyone."

"But he's hurting our Nari. No one hurts our Nari!" Dom pouted.

Nari smiled and reached over, putting her hand on his red one. "Thank you for worrying, but it's okay. I'll just deal with it. I get good pay, and I get a lot of tips on the job."

"Why can't you just work full time here? I'll give you my pay." Dom whined.

Nari chuckled and shook her head. "As much as that sounds tempting, you need your pay to help your grandma." Nari explained.

Dom sighed, defeated and put his cheek on the top of her hand that was on his.

_

Chanyeol was in his room, laying on his bed with his head resting on both of his arms as he faced the ceiling. It was eleven pm at night and he couldn't sleep. He was silent, listening to what his mom and dad were saying down stairs.

"Our son tried to kill himself last night!" he heard his mom shout.

It was silent before his mom spoke again.

"Are you even listening to me? Do you even care? Put down the book!" she yelled.

He heard something slam onto the table and rustling as if someone got up.

"If our son wants to die then let him! If he doesn't give a damn about his life then that's his problem!" his step dad shouted.

"It is our problem! Therapy is obviously not working. We need to do something!" his mom shouted, barely choking in a cry.

"The cancer will never go away. All we can do is keep bringing him to therapy and pay for his treatments. If he can't handle this for the rest of his life then he might as well just die! It'll save us some money-"

Before his step dad could finish, Chanyeol heard a slapping sound, most likely from his mother.

By now, his mother was in tears. "How could you say that about our son? We shouldn't have ever accepted your help. You're a rotten man."

Another slap was heard, and this time, it wasn't from his mom. Chanyeol got up, his body heated, and raged downstairs to where his mother was on the ground, holding her bright red cheek. Chanyeol stood there in shock before glaring at his step dad and running forward, punching him in the face.

His step dad's head flew back from the blow and he rubbed his jaw, swinging his fist and punching Chanyeol back. Chanyeol stumbled back and clenched his fist, but before he could do anything, his shirt was grabbed and he was punched again. He fell to the ground with his father on top of him, his mouth starting to bleed and bruises appear on his face.

His step dad kept punching and slapping Chanyeol's face. "You whiny son of a b**ch! Trying to kill yourself? We are putting out so much money to try and keep you alive, and for what? For you to kill yourself? Don't make me laugh!"

Chanyeol winced and glared daggers at his step father. "Then stop paying! I'd rather die than live with this disease!" he shouted before shoving his step father off of him.

His mother crawled over to Chanyeol and gently caressed his bloody and bruised faced. She couldn't say anything, tears rolling down her cheeks. Chanyeol stayed on the ground, breathing heavily. This wasn't the first time he was beaten by his step dad, but it was the first time he had hit his step father.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry." his mother repeated, wrapping her arms around him as he sat up, wiping the blood from his mouth.

He glared over at his step dad who was looking away, rubbing his jaw. He got up and walked out of the room without a word to his wife, nor Chanyeol.

Chanyeol looked at his mother who was sobbing into his shoulder, clenching his shirt tightly. He examined her body for the first time in a while, noticing how thin she's become. He's noticed, but never really acknowledged it until now. He sighed and wrapped his arms around his mom, tears unexpectedly starting to fall from his eyes.


	3. Healer

A few days after the strange incident, Nari was back in the cafe as usual. She was currently cleaning the back counter, waiting for a customer to walk up and order something. It was a slow day so there weren't many people in the cafe. As she was cleaning, she felt her phone buzz in her pocket. She stopped cleaning and took out her phone, checking the caller ID. It was a random number that she's never seen, making her question if she should answer it or not.

"Who is it?" Dom asked, wandering over to Nari and peeking over her shoulder.

Nari shrugged her shoulders and swiped the answer button, Gong Joo sliding over as well, interested.

"Hello?" Nari answered.

"Son Nari?" a female's voice on the other end replied.

Nari's eyebrows furrowed, glancing over at Dom and Gong Joo before forward again. "Speaking. Who is this?"

"I'm Chanyeol's mother. I got your number from your boss at the chicken place." the voice said.

Nari searched in her mind for the name "Chanyeol", not being able to remember. "Chanyeol? I don't know anyone by that name..."

"My apologies, you must not remember. My son was very rude to you when you delivered chicken to our house a few days ago. He accused you of... healing him." she reminded.

Nari's eyes eyes widened and she put down the rag she was holding, stepping away from the counter. "I-I remember now. Do you mind me asking why you called?"

The voice sounded hesitant, but quickly answered. "I would like to meet you in person to discuss something. When do you happen to be free?"

Nari nudged away Dom who was trying to listen in on the call and walked over to an empty table, looking at the time. "I get off work in about an hour."

"Great! You remember where I live, right? Please drop by then." she requested before immediately hanging up.

Nari blinked, confused. She looked down at her phone where the call had ended, sighing. Dom and Gong Joo walked over to her.

"Who was that?" Gong Joo questioned.

Nari turned and looked at both of them. "The mother of that one guy I told you about."

Gong Joo and Dom searched for who she was talking about in their head and remembered right away.

"Oh... Suicidal jerk guy? What does she want from you?" Gong Joo inquired.

Nari shrugged her shoulders and scratched the side of her head. "I guess I'll have to meet her and find out."

_

Nari approached the front gate to the large house she was once previously at, pressing the button to talk. Before she could say anything, the gates automatically opened and she was let in. She walked to the front door and knocked, putting her hands in her jacket pockets. When the door opened, she was greeted with a smile from the mother.

"Welcome. I promise you this won't take long." the mother reassured, bidding Nari inside as the doors closed behind them.

"My son is out getting some tests done, so I figured this would be the perfect time to do this." the mother said as she led Nari to the living room couch.

"We're alone?" Nari questioned, looking around the house curiously.

"Just me and you." the mother responded.

Nari became uneasy. Is she going to kill me for calling out her suicidal son? Nari thought.

Nari sat down across from Chanyeol's mother, putting her hands on her lap.

"Now, I know this is quite sudden, and forgive me for being so sudden with this, but I would like to offer you a job." Chanyeol's mom stated.

Nari was taken aback by her sudden offer but remained composed. "What kind of job?"

Chanyeol's mom crossed her legs and intertwined her fingers together. "Let me explain. My son has Osteosarcoma in his left knee, which is a type of bone cancer. He has many episodes of chronic pain, in which you probably witnessed not too long ago."

Nari listened carefully, nodding to the woman's assumption about her witnessing his pain.

Chanyeol's mother continued. "Therapy hasn't been helping him and he's becoming more and more unhappy with his treatment methods. Chanyeol believes strongly that it is you who took away his pain that one night."

Nari sighed and ran her fingers through her short hair. "Ma'am... I'm sorry, but he must have been mistaken. He was drunk, on the verge of suicide, and just wasn't in his right mind. Plus, it was one time."

"That one time made him unable to stop thinking about what had happened that one night. Look, I don't completely believe my son either. Nothing has been able to take away his pain. However, I'm willing to see if this will work. I'm willing to try anything that could possibly help my son feel better." the woman pleaded.

"So what you're asking of me is that you want me to be his healer?" Nari speculated.

"Yes. I want you to heal my son. Just remain by his side and answer to his every call." Chanyeol's mom confirmed.

Nari was in disbelief. Was this really a job offering or a slave contract?

"What if he doesn't call?" Nari questioned.

"He'll call if he's desperate enough." the woman answered.

"What if I can't get to him in time? I have two jobs, you know." Nari rebuttled.

"Quit them. I'll pay you fifty dollars a week." the woman retorted.

Nari was at a loss for words. Fifty dollars? A week? She stayed silent, shocked.

"Though, I would like it if you were by his side often. If you could, maybe you can drop by every day? Just stay for a few hours and leave when convenient. I'm aware this is a strange job, but if you think about it, it's more of me just wanting you to become friends with my son and paying you for it." the woman explained.

Nari was still caught up on how much she was willing to pay her, but she was still uneasy about the whole thing. How could she quit both of her jobs, answer to every single one of this guy's calls, and heal him whenever he needs? There were so many things wrong with this. Plus her own health. Would her body be able to take it?

"I don't know..." Nari muttered, unsure.

"Let's negotiate then. We can adjust so that this works for you and there are no misunderstandings." the woman offered.

Nari nodded, taking a moment to think.

"Okay. I'll quit my chicken delivery job, but I won't quit my cafe job, which means I can drop by for a while after my shift and on the days I'm off. I'll answer to your son's calls, but I can't guarantee I'll be able to come every time, or even right away. Lastly, I can drive him places and be with him as needed, but that doesn't mean I'm doing this to be his friend. It's only a job. Nothing more, nothing less." Nari conveyed.

Chanyeol's mother nodded right away, a bright smile appearing on her face. "Yes! Thank you so much, this really means a lot." she beamed.

Nari couldn't help but to feel uneasy about her decision, but she smiled and nodded. "Your son may not be so happy though."

Chanyeol's mom chuckled softly. "He won't be. He hates when others see him in pain."

Nari nodded, being able to relate. "So when do I start?"

"Can you start tomorrow?" Chanyeol's mom asked desperately.

Nari was hesitant to start so early, but she nodded anyways, agreeing.

After trading contact information and putting everything in order, Nari left the house and headed to her own home. She didn't understand how she got herself into this. She knew this wouldn't end well. This job may be even worse than her chicken delivery, but at the same time, that would be impossible. She knew she would have to keep this a secret from her dad and Gong Joo, as well as Dom, even though he wasn't aware of her secret ability. He had a big mouth and a lot of questions.

Chanyeol came home later that night, exhausted from the tests. He immediately went into the kitchen and took out a glass, filling it up with water and gulping all of it down. He went for a refill when his mom came in with a smile on her face.

"How was the testing?" she asked in a bright voice.

Chanyeol took a sip from the glass before putting it down, wiping the excess water from his top lip. "Horrible, as always."

His mother's smile faltered a bit but she kept it visible. "I'm sorry, dear. It's only for the best."

Chanyeol shrugged, taking another sip of the water. "Just waiting for the day it spreads, mama."

Chanyeol finished the water and sat it in the sink. Before he could walk out of the kitchen, his mom grabbed his arm and stopped him.

"I found something that can help" she blurted out.

Chanyeol paused and looked down at his mother. "What?"

Chanyeol's mom moved her other hand to rest on his opposite arm, both of them facing each other. "I found something that can help with your pain, Chanyeol."

Chanyeol furrowed his eyebrows. "What did you find?"

Chanyeol's mom smiled up at him before letting go of his arms. She rushed out into the living room before coming back in with a piece of paper in her hands.

She held it out to him. "Put this number in your phone."

Chanyeol hesitantly took the piece of paper and examined it before looking back down at his mom. "Whose number is this?"

"Call this number whenever the pain starts to hit. Set a speed dial if you have to." she told him.

"Whose number is this?" Chanyeol repeated, a bit louder this time.

Chanyeol's mom sighed, a bit hesitant to tell him. "Nari. The chicken delivery girl."

Chanyeol blinked in surprise before handing back the piece of paper to his mom. "I don't need her help."

Chanyeol's mom grabbed Chanyeol's hand before he could walk off and put the piece of paper back in his hand. "Yes you do, Chanyeol. She promised to come right away when you call, and she's going to be coming every day to check up on you."

"Cancel it. I'm not calling her." Chanyeol said in an annoyed tone.

"Chanyeol, please. You know you need this." she pleaded.

"So what? I'm supposed to lay there in pain for the majority of it until she comes to take the pain away?" Chanyeol questioned frustratedly.

"I don't know how this will work out either. It's just something to try, and you know your episodes last very long."

Chanyeol rolled his eyes and ran his fingers through his hair. "Fine. Have her come over every day. Have her basically be my baby sitter for a few hours, I don't care, but I'm not calling her."

With that, Chanyeol scrunched up the piece of paper in his hands and threw it on the counter before walking out of the kitchen and up to his room. Chanyeol's mom sighed and pressed her hand to her head. She loved Chanyeol with all of her heart and knew he had good intentions. He was a good boy. Even at times like this, she couldn't blame him. He never asked for this life.

Later that night when Chanyeol was asleep, she took the crumpled piece of paper and unwatted it, setting it on top of his phone that was setting on his nightstand in his room. She knew he would call if he was desperate enough. She moved a few strands of hair from his face before leaning down and kissing his forehead. Chanyeol moved slightly but stayed asleep, moving his head in the other direction. Chanyeol's mom smiled at the sight of her son before quietly taking her leave.

_

The next morning, she immediately went down to the chicken delivery place. She walked through the doors and sauntered to the back room where her boss's office was, knocking before entering slowly with a letter in her hand.

"What do you want?" her boss immediately said, Nari not even in the room yet.

Nari paused briefly before stepping inside and closing the door behind her. "I came to talk to you."

"Well hurry on with it." he said in a deep, rough voice.

Nari felt her heart pick up the pace. She was honestly scared of her boss. Any time he came to inspect, if anyone did anything wrong, he would scold them by hitting them. Since Nari was the youngest and only girl, you would think she got less of the physical abuse. However, they didn't want her in the first place. So she was hit more often and picked on by all the employees. Proving that she can handle a lot, they put even more work onto her.

Nari clutched the letter in her hand tighter before stepping up to the desk and putting the letter in front of him.

Her boss flipped the letter over to the side that said "Resignation". "You're resigning?" he questioned.

Nari nodded. "I found another well paid job... I came to collect my last weekly pay."

Her boss scoffed, taking the letter and ripping it up, tossing it in the trash. "Get out."

Nari's eyes widened a bit but she remained calm, fiddling with the hem of her shirt. "I-I need my pay, sir."

Her boss looked up at her with scary, narrow eyes. "You need your pay?"

Nari stayed silent as she walked him stand up. "You want me to pay you for doing nothing?"

Nari felt like she wanted to cry, but she held it in.

Her boss chuckled mockingly. "We never even needed you. You have constantly been wasted space. I'm not going to pay you when we didn't need you in the first place. If you quit, then leave."

Nari clenched her fists, her lip twitching slightly. She felt a tear stream down her face.

"That's not fair." she choked out, biting the inside of her lip.

"I suppose no one told you this, but life isn't fair. I'm not paying you for something you don't deserve. In fact, I should have just fired you." he said heartlessly.

Nari sniffed and wiped away the tear that previously ran down her cheek. She looked down and tried her best to compose herself, but before she could look back up, she felt her head get hit. She winced and looked up to see her boss with a rolled up magazine.

"I said get out, didn't I? Don't cry right here in front of me. If you can't handle this then you won't ever make it in life anyways." he said, moving from the back until he was next to her.

He smacked her head again but this time harder, making Nari wince again and rush out of his office. She reached in her pocket and grabbed her name pin before throwing it at the assistant manager that watched her, hitting him in the forehead. He winced and cursed at Nari as she ran out of the building.

Nari ran down the sidewalk as tears flowed down her cheeks. She's been treated like trash throughout her whole time in that job, and her boss had the nerve to say she was a waste of space? She was more angry than disappointed, but she couldn't help but take his words to heart. She always built a tough barrier around herself, but sometimes, she couldn't contain it all. 

As she was running, she bumped into someone along her way, making the person drop what they were holding.

She immediately stopped and bowed, wiping her eyes. "I-I'm sorry."

The person who she bumped into looked down at what they dropped, annoyed. "Watch where you're going, will you?"

The person watched Nari bend down to pick up their phone, however recognizing her in the process. "You! Why do I keep bumping into you?"

Nari looked up from her kneeling position at Chanyeol, already feeling like her day was made worse. She stayed silent and picked up the item, it turning out to be his phone.

She dusted it off, handing it back to him. "It didn't crack, it just got scratched." she said in a dull voice.

Chanyeol took the phone and groaned. "Such an unlucky day. Now I have a scratched phone." he complained.

Nari rolled her eyes and was about to walk away when her arm was grabbed, making her snap. "Why do you keep grabbing me? Just call my name!"

Chanyeol flinched at her sudden shouting. "I don't know your name!"

Nari was at this point extremely annoyed, yanking her arm back. "Then say 'hey you' or something! You don't just grab people."

Chanyeol was about to argue back but noticed her puffy eyes and tear stained face, calming down. "Were you crying?"

Nari calmed down as well, panting from her previous outburst.

She stayed silent and looked away, wiping away any excess wetness on her face. "None of your business. I have to go."

Nari turned around and started walking the other direction, just wanting to go home. It was her day off and knew she had to go to Chanyeol's house later, which made her dread the rest of the day even more.

Chanyeol watched her walk away, sighing. He was a softy when it came to people crying, however, it also annoyed him. He had an urge to go after her but shook it away and walked the other way


	4. Fireworks

Nari finally made it home soon after running into Chanyeol. She just couldn't believe the nerve of that guy. How could someone go from getting mad at you and then feeling sympathetic towards you? She took off her jacket and sat it on the back of the couch before making her way into the dining room.

As she made her way through the door, she gasped when she saw her father passed out on the ground, his glasses off and beside his face. Nari ran over to him and kelt down, shaking him and tapping his face repeatedly.

"Dad! Dad! Are you okay? Wake up!" she pleaded.

After a minute of shaking him, her dad finally came through and groaned. "Oh, you're home?"

Nari watched him sit up and rub his head where he must have hit it on the tile floor. "I got home just a while ago. What happened?"

Her dad grabbed his glasses from off the floor and put them back on. "I guess I fell asleep. Did I worry you?"

Nari felt anger rush through her, annoyed at how careless he seemed. "Yeah, you did worry me. You were passed out on the ground!"

Her dad chuckled and took his glass off, cleaning them with the hem of his shirt. "Oh, well sorry, honey. Didn't mean to scare you."

Nari helped her dad stand up, him putting his glasses back on his face. "Didn't mean to scare me? Dad, if you're that tired, go to bed."

Her dad shook his head, rubbing the confirmed bump on his head. "Too much work, which I suppose I should get back to."

Nari stopped her dad from sitting back on the chair. "Please just go to bed."

Her dad sighed and put both of his hands on her shoulders. "Nari... I don't think you understand. I have deadlines to complete."

Nari moved her dad's hands off of her. "I do understand, and I know that those deadlines aren't as important as your health."

Her dad stood up straight, putting his hands on his hips. "I'm perfectly healthy. Plus, I had a nice nap on the floor. I already feel refreshed." he said cheerfully.

Nari crossed her arms, not buying it. "You passed out from exhaustion. I didn't have to be here to know that."

Her dad sighed once again. "Sweetie, if I want to make money, I can't skip those deadlines. I need that money to raise you and run this house."

"I'll do it. No, I've been doing it. My part time jobs pay more than you get in a month. In fact, I just got a new job that pays twice as much as I've been getting." Nari argued.

Her dad reached out to put a hand on his daughter's shoulder. "You shouldn't overwork yourself-"

Nari swatted her dad's hand away. "Don't be a hypocrite." she said sternly.

Her dad frowned and moved his hand back. "I'm your father. I'm supposed to make the money, not you."

"Well you obviously aren't doing a very good job at that." she sniped.

Her dad started to get angry at her tone. "That's why I need to do all this work in order to do better."

"You need to get a better job or switch to a new writing company or whatever! Your boss doesn't pay you enough for your books!"

"It's my fault for not having any inspiration." he proclaimed.

"I've read your books though and they are good!" Nari exclaimed, looking at her father desperately.

Nari's father sighed sadly, looking away. "You read the books I allowed you to read. Those were all before your mom passed away."

Nari became silent, the mention of her mother and her dad's sad look telling her not to respond just yet.

"My recent books aren't good. I've become partially dyslexic so there are too many errors I can't fix, the story lines are too dull, the message isn't encouraging... I've lost almost all of it." he explained, briefly glancing at his daughter.

Nari, again, didn't say anything, not knowing what to say.

Her father saw her sad look so he smiled and put his hand on her head, stroking her hair comfortingly. "I'll do better though. I'll do everything I can to make more money and release something people enjoy reading."

Nari looked up at her father, hoping to see the motivation he described in his eyes. However, she could tell he was lying. He didn't seem very sure of himself. He never did. Despite that, however, she went along with it, knowing that what she says can't change him. She nodded and looked down at the floor.

Her dad smiled once again before removing his hand and perching himself back in his chair, picking up his pencil to continue his work. Nari glanced at him once before making her way to her room and collapsing face down on her bed. She groaned into the sheets before adjusting herself properly in bed. She kicked her shoes off and snuggled into the covers. She wasn't planning on taking a nap, but eventually fell asleep until it was time to get up for her new, dreaded job.

_

Since there was no exact time, she decided to get up around 2:00 pm. She put her shoes back on and combed her fingers through her hair, not needing to much since her hair was short. She made sure to grab her phone before heading back downstairs. As she crept through the living room, she heard her dad call her name, so she peaked through the kitchen door over at her dad.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Where are you going?" he asked without looking up from his work.

She bit her lower lip and searched in her head for an excuse. She didn't want her dad knowing she was going to a job that required her to use her power, since he, as well as Gong Joo, was extremely against.

"I'm going down to the cafe. Dom and Gong Joo need help." she lied.

Fortunately, her dad didn't care enough to question her any further so he just nodded. "Alright. Don't be home late."

Nari smiled, happy that her lie worked. "I won't."

Nari then made her way out the front door, grabbing her coat along the way and slipping it on. As she walked down the streets, she looked around, trying to remember the directions. She was bad at directions despite her being a former chicken deliverer. She usually had a GPS if she were to get lost.

She eventually made it to Chanyeol's house, once again approaching the large gate. She pressed the familar red button on the wall and said her name and reason for being there, the gate immediately opening for her. Chanyeol's mom was out front to greet her as Nari walked up into the drive way and over to the smiling woman.

"Welcome, Nari. Thank you for showing up. Although, a call would have been nice. It's kind of messy inside." Chanyeol's mom said humbly.

Nari smiled apologetically. "I'm not used to calling in before a job...I'm sorry."

Chanyeol's mom smiled. "Don't apologize, dear. I'm satisfied you are here at all."

Chanyeol's mom led Nari inside, this time smelling a delightful scent of roasted chicken. Nari couldn't help but smile, feeling like she was in a fancy restaurant.

"You can stay for dinner if you'd like. I'm sure my husband won't mind." she offered.

Nari stopped sniffing the air, realizing how weird she must look. "I wouldn't want to intrude."

Nari had a passing thought enter her mind when Chanyeol's mom mentioned her husband. She thought she was a single mother since she's never mentioned her husband.

"I insist. There's plenty of food to go around. I make too much anyways." Chanyeol's mom said generously.

They walked into the living room, the smell of chicken going away and getting replaced with a more fresher scent.

"Chanyeol's in his room if you'd like to go greet him. I understand you two aren't that fond of each other, but it would be nice to get to know one another since this will be a daily thing." Chanyeol's mother suggested.

Nari smiled awkwardly, rubbing the back of her neck. "What am I supposed to do here and how long am I supposed to stay?"

Chanyeol's mom hummed, thinking briely. "Well, as I said, I would love it if you stayed for dinner. Although, you can leave at any time. As for what you're supposed to do... You can just relax or do whatever you need to."

Nari was uncomfortable with the arrangements, not used to just being able to leave a job whenever.

"Can I clean? It'll be like a bonus for you, since you're already paying me so much." Nari proposed.

Chanyeol's mom looked surprised but hesitantly nodded. "If you would like to do that, then of course. Don't feel like that's all you can do though. Remember, don't think of this as a job. Think of it as me wanting you to be acquainted with my son, or maybe... courted?"

Nari widened her eyes at her last comment, her voice being caught in her throat from the surprise. At that moment, Chanyeol appeared from behind the corner with his own surprised face.

"Courted?" Chanyeol repeated, not looking too happy, as always.

Chanyeol's mom looked over at Chanyeol before laughing, shaking her head. "I'm just kidding. I'm not trying to marry you off."

Chanyeol crossed his arms and looked at Nari, his eyes looking her up and down with a judging look.

Nari, offended by his obvious negative judgement of her, cleared her throat. "I'll just start cleaning now." she announced before making her way into the kitchen.

Chanyeol scoffed and looked over at his mom who had an uneasy expression, immediately forcing a smile when she locked eyes with him. "You better be joking about the whole courting thing."

Chanyeol's mom chuckled and walked over to her son. "Of course I am. Although, I'm not kidding about you two developing a friendship. It'll be good for you! You don't even see your friends that often anymore."

"That's because they are busy working jobs and doing their own thing. I would do that too if I could." Chanyeol said irritably.

Chanyeol's mom sighed and reached up, caressing his cheek. "More the reason that you should take this opportunity. Be nice to her, get to know her. She is going to be the one helping you, anyways."

Chanyeol wanted to argue but seeing his mom's desperate expression made him do otherwise. "Fine, I'll be nice, but I'm not accepting her help. Did you even discuss this with Wook?"

Chanyeol's mom gave him a warning look. "You know he doesn't like it when you call him by his name."

"Well I'm not calling him father." Chanyeol retorted.

Chanyeol's mom sighed and tucked her hair behind her ears. "No, I haven't discussed it with him just yet. I'm planning to introduce her at dinner."

"She's staying for dinner too?" Chanyeol complained.

Chanyeol's mom nodded, crossing her arms. "Yes, she is."

Chanyeol sneered, shaking his head. "He won't be happy."

"He's gone most of the day anyways." she immediately retorted.

Chanyeol had a feeling that his step dad wouldn't like the idea of another person working in the house and taking the pain away from his son, so he just shrugged his shoulders, confident that Nari wouldn't be coming back anymore after today.

"I'm going to go take a nap while the chicken bakes. Please help Nari if she needs anything, will you? If you start to have an episode-"

"I know I know." Chanyeol interrupted, turning and making his way into the kitchen to where Nari was.

He walked through the door and spotted Nari searching around for something, crossing his arms and leaning against the door frame. "So, are you going to be a maid while you're here?"

Nari stopped what she was doing and looked up at Chanyeol from across the kitchen, nodding. "Seems that way."

Chanyeol moved and walked towards Nari, now leaning against the island counter. "Why did you take this job? I thought you didn't do anything that night? Are you just here to take advantage of my mom's money, because if you are-"

"Why would I admit to such a crazy story to a woman I barely even know and a guy I never wanted to see again? I am here to take advantage of your mom's money because she offered it and I need the money, plus I'm also helping to clean and care for her son." Nari interrupted, crossing her arms.

Chanyeol raised an eyebrow, scoffing. "Unbelievable. How am I supposed to get along with someone like you?"

Nari clenched her fists. "You're the one who was rude to me first when I was trying to help you."

Chanyeol uncrossed his arms and stepped closer to her. "I didn't ask for your help."

Nari mimicked his actions with a straight face. "So I was supposed to let you kill yourself?"

Chanyeol nodded. "That was the plan."

Nari scoffed and shook her head. "It shouldn't have been a plan. I don't care if you have cancer or not, that's not an excuse."

"Then what is, huh? Do I have to tell you all about my life? You don't know me or what I go through." Chanyeol said angrily.

Nari shook her head. "You're right. I don't know you or what you go through, but I'm here right now to help you, so can I at least get a thank you for that?"

Chanyeol sneered. "I don't need your help. I've been fine on my own and will continue to be. Don't waste your effort."

Nari was getting even more irritated. "Fine. I won't."

Nari turned and stormed out of the kitchen, not even caring about what she was trying to find in the kitchen. She sat onto the couch and rested her head in her hands with her elbows perching on her knees.

"Does he have to pick a fight with me every single time we talk?" Nari mumbled to herself.

Chanyeol remained in the kitchen, completely enraged by their conversation. She didn't understand what he went through every day of his life. Chronic pain episodes every few hours, constant doctor visits, testing every other day, at least eight different types of medicine every day. It was exhausting. He couldn't have a normal life because of it. His friends were busy with their own lives, where as Chanyeol could never go anywhere for a long period of time because of the pain and need for close-by resources. He wanted to smile and be cheery, but because of him, his mom was with his step dad. Because of him, his mom lost everything. Because of him, people distanced themselves. Everything was because of him, and it was all something he had to live with.

_

By the time Chanyeol's step father came home, Nari was in the middle of cleaning the living room. She actually didn't mind being here so much, as long as Chanyeol wasn't bothering her. Cleaning relaxed her and being somewhere other than her house was nice. Not that her house was horrible or anything, it was just empty and lonely. It reminded her a lot of her mom, and seeing her dad so unhappy made her unhappy. Plus, she liked to be productive, and the amount of money she was getting wasn't nearly what she deserved for just healing her son. She wanted to do more.

Chanyeol's step father walked into the living room, pausing when he saw Nari.

Nari stopped what she was doing and turned around, immediately bowing to him. Before she could say anything, his face turned annoyed and he looked towards the kitchen where his wife was.

"Leigha!" he called, Chanyeol's mom immediately rushing out.

Nari took note of Chanyeol's mom's name, realizing that she had never asked for it when they met.

"Honey." Leigha cooed, smiling at her husband.

Chanyeol's father looked towards Nari who was standing with her hands intertwined in front of her awkwardly.

Leigha's eyes widened. "Ah," she realized, stepping over by Nari's side and putting a hand on her shoulder. "This is Nari. She's going to be... Our new house keeper!"

Nari was confused by the label, but went with it anyways, since that was basically what she was aside from healing Chanyeol when needed.

Chanyeol's step father raised an eyebrow as he looked at Nari, looking her up and down. "A bit young for a house keeper." he judged.

Nari stayed silent, feeling intimidated by his sharp eyes that trailed her short stature.

"She's very skilled and works very hard." Leigha praised.

Nari shifted uncomfortably, rubbing her arm and clearing her throat.

Chanyeol's step father stayed silent for a few seconds before shrugging, removing his jacket and laying it across the back of the couch. "Call me when dinner is ready."

With that, he turned and made his way to his office room, closing the door behind him. Nari let out a long breath, already feeling stressed out by just a simple conversation with that man.

Leigha turned to Nari and smiled, removing her hand from Nari's shoulder. "That was my husband. He's a little on the quiet side."

Nari smiled awkwardly, rubbing her neck. "I can see that."

"You don't have to worry too much about him, but I would like to keep your healing job a secret from him, if that's not too much to ask. He may not agree too much with it." Leigha explained.

Nari nodded. "No problem."

Leigha grinned at her response, clapping her hands together. "Great! Then, I shall prepare dinner. You're staying, right?"

"Oh... I actually think I have to get home.." Nari lied.

"You can't stay?" Leigha frowned.

Nari hesitated, feeling bad. "Um... Actually, sure." Nari gave in.

Leigha smiled once again, this time even brighter. "Then I'll go finish."

Nari watched Leigha make her way back into the kitchen, sighing once she was out of sight. She frowned, ruffling her hair so it became slightly messy, sitting down onto the couch.

When dinner was ready, Leigha called everyone into the kitchen. Nari was the first to enter the kitchen, but was immediately nudged back as Chanyeol made his way passed her, obviously meaning to do it on purpose. He strode passed her with a smirk and grabbed his plate, Nari glaring at him as he did so.

Chanyeol's step father made his way into the kitchen as well, not even sparing a glance at Nari as he sauntered passed her.

After everyone besides Nari were served at the table, Nari made her plate and sat down at the table across from Chanyeol. She was impressed with how good the food looked, admiring it. However, she wished she hadn't put everything on her plate. One of the dishes was broccoli, in which she knew she was badly allergic to. She didn't want to be rude so she tried to eat everything, but avoided the broccoli until last.

Everyone was silent, the only sounds heard being the munching of food and the clinking of silverware against the glass plates. Chanyeol would occasionally glance over at Nari, seeing her slight worried expression as she looked down at the broccoli. Leigha looked over at her as well.

"You don't have to eat everything, dear." Leigha reassured.

Nari looked up at her and shook her head, feeling rude. "No, it's okay. I should do at least that."

Nari looked back down at the broccoli, trying to convince herself it would be okay. Maybe she wasn't allergic to it anymore... The last time she had it was when she was a kid, so she was probably over it by now. She took her fork and picked up a piece of broccoli, her heart rate picking up slightly as she put the piece in her mouth and chewed.

At first, there was no reaction, so she calmed down, figuring she was over the allergy now. However, a few minutes of eating multiple pieces of broccoli, she felt her forehead become a bit sweaty, and before long, it become a bit hard to breathe. She successfully ate all the broccoli, Chanyeol eyeing her by now.

"Do you need a napkin?" Chanyeol offered, causing Leigha and her husband to look up at her.

Nari was about to reach forward to take the napkin from him, but her hands started to shake, so kept her hands down and shook her head. She felt her throat starting to close up, so she got up and bowed.

"I-I have to.." she clenched her fist, breathing heavier. "go..."

She barely choked out a thank you before hurrying out of the kitchen, causing everyone to look at each other worriedly. Chanyeol, sensing something wrong, got up and rushed after Nari.

Nari rushed out of the house, her face turning red and throat fully closing now. She coughed like mad, clutching her throat tightly before dropping to her knees onto the concrete in the driveway. Chanyeol ran over to her with widened eyes, not really knowing what to do.

"What's wrong?" he asked, knowing that was probably a stupid question.

Nari, not able to talk, continued to cough and shake, pretty soon passing out and falling onto her side. Chanyeol, panicked, knelt down and scooped her into his arms so he was holding her bridal style. He realized that it was probably an allergic reaction since her throat was red and swelled up, so he ran to his car and put her inside, immediately getting inside and driving to the hospital.

When they arrived, he picked her up again and rushed inside the entrance of the hospital, letting the doctors and nurses take her. Once she was gone to be taken care of, Chanyeol sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.

"Why did she eat the broccoli if she was allergic?" he mumbled to himself, annoyed.

He sat in the waiting room, calling his mom to tell her what was wrong and that everything was okay. Finally, after a while of waiting, they let Chanyeol inside the hospital room where Nari was. He walked up to the bed where Nari was asleep, an oxygen mask on her.

"Are you her boyfriend?" A female nurse asked, walking to the room to check on Nari.

Chanyeol moved his attention to the woman, a surprised look on his face.

He shook his head. "I'm not her boyfriend."

The nurse chuckled. "My apologies. Well, whoever she is to you, she's okay. You're lucky though, it was pretty serious."

Chanyeol nodded, looking back at Nari. "She didn't say anything about being allergic to broccoli."

He sat on the stool next to her. "How long does she have to be here?"

"Just until the swelling in her throat goes down." the nurse responded.

Chanyeol sighed. "How long will that take?"

The nurse giggled at Chanyeol's impatience. "A few hours."

Chanyeol frowned. "That's so long. Maybe I should just leave."

The nurse shrugged, walking out of the room, leaving Chanyeol and Nari alone.

Chanyeol looked at Nari, annoyed. "I didn't think someone could be so dumb." he grumbled.

Chanyeol jumped slightly when Nari's hand moved all of a sudden and removed the oxygen mask.

"I was trying to be polite." Nari said in a quiet, raspy voice.

Chanyeol narrowed his eyes at her. "Do you usually cause this much trouble?"

"I didn't ask for you to help me." Nari argued, glaring at him.

"You would have died!" Chanyeol retorted, the conversation starting to sound a bit familiar.

It also sounded familiar to Nari, making her stay silent. She put the oxygen mask back on and looked away from Chanyeol.

After an hour or so passed, they heard footsteps enter the room. Chanyeol looked back at a tall, thin, lean man with glasses.

Nari also looked up, immediately removing the mask and sitting up. "Dad."

Nari's father, looking as if he rushed all the way here by the sweat dripping from his temples and slight panting, hurried to Nari's side. "What happened?"

Chanyeol stood up from the stool and backed away so he could give them some space, crossing his arms.

Nari nearly forgot that she had kept her job a secret from him. She glanced over at Chanyeol who was just watching, worried that she would say the wrong thing. She cleared her throat that was feeling better, thinking of an excuse.

Chanyeol saw Nari struggling to think of something, so he walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "I asked Nari to dinner at my house and we didn't know that she was allergic to broccoli, so she ate it trying to be polite."

Nari looked up at Chanyeol with widened eyes, even more worried now that what he said didn't link up with her lie of going to the cafe.

Nari's dad looked at Chanyeol, a bit awkward since he wasn't used to talking to too many people. "She went to your house?"

Nari closed her eyes and face-palmed, knowing that it was the end for her.

Chanyeol nodded. "Yep. She didn't tell you?"

Chanyeol's dad shook his head, looking down at Nari. "She said she was going to the cafe."

Chanyeol realized that his excuse may not have been the best. "Oh, she did?" he said, chuckling nervously.

He removed his hand from her shoulder. "That's probably because she was embarrassed. A handsome guy invited her to his house for dinner, so who wouldn't be? Right, Nari?" he said, nudging her.

Nari's face flushed, not from the allergic reaction earlier. Getting caught lying would have been better than this dumb excuse. She nodded, not looking up at either of the two.

Nari's father, not really thinking too deeply about this, just nodded. "Oh... Nothing to be embarrassed about. I'm glad you've made some friends, sweetie."

Nari's head shot up, her eyes flickering between Chanyeol and her father. "Why do you make it sound like I'm a little kid? I have friends." she whined, embarrassed.

Chanyeol couldn't help but to chuckle, putting his hand to his mouth so it wouldn't be noticeable. Nari, however, noticed, sending him glare.

Nari's father sighed, his face not changing. "Then go out more instead of working."

Nari frowned, irritated at his response. "Is that all you can say to me?"

The atmosphere became tense, Chanyeol shifting uncomfortably.

Nari's father sighed. "Don't be like this."

Nari shook her head and flipped the covers off of her, standing up. "Where are my shoes?"

Chanyeol bent down and picked up her shoes from under one of the chairs, handing them to her. Nari slipped them on, leaving them untied.

"I'll get a ride with Chanyeol." she announced, not even looking at her father.

Chanyeol was about to protest but she walked out of the room before he could, leaving Chanyeol and her father alone.

Chanyeol looked at Nari's father awkwardly, clearing his throat before bowing and rushing out after her.

Nari's father stood there silently, wishing that he could communicate better with his daughter. Before long, he left the hospital to go back home.

Chanyeol walked behind Nari as she stormed off, being careful to keep some space between them. He carefully inched his way beside her, silence remaining between them. He wondered if he should say anything, deciding to stay silent a bit longer.

Almost to the car, as Nari was walking, her left foot stepped on a loose shoe lace, causing her to fall forward. Luckily, before falling, Chanyeol instinctively caught her and held her, looking at her with concern. Nari looked up at Chanyeol with a surprised face, blinking repeatedly. His face was pretty close to hers, so she took the chance to look at his features better than how she usually viewed him. Usually, she viewed him just as a suicidal jerk face. Now, however, she couldn't help but to see how handsome he was. He was helping her a lot today, so maybe he wasn't that bad of a person.

As soon as they locked eyes again, Chanyeol let go of her and cleared his throat, looking away. "T-This is the only time I'll take you home, since you just got out of the hospital. Don't expect anything else from me."

Nari pulled herself together as well, trying to convince herself that her racing heart was just the shock from the trip. "Of course! I don't want anything from you. I just didn't want to drive home alone with my dad."

They started walking again, soon reaching the car. "That was a little harsh towards your father, by the way." Chanyeol brought up.

Nari got into the passenger seat, admiring how nice the car was now that she could see it properly. "I know."

Chanyeol got in as well, starting up the car. "Do you usually talk to him like that?"

Nari shook her head, buckling her seat belt. "No. We hardly talk at all."

Chanyeol stayed silent, not knowing what to say to that. "Why?" he asked, finally. "Oh, and where do you live?"

Nari gave him directions, shrugging her shoulders to his question. "We just don't. It doesn't matter though." she answered, not wanting to talk about it.

Chanyeol nodded, taking her response like she meant it. He stayed silent after that, not knowing what to say to her. He didn't feel as much hate towards her, even though this whole experience annoyed him.

As they drove, they both jumped as they heard a large popping sound. They both looked around before hearing another pop. Nari looked out the window to see fireworks starting to explode in the air, yellows, pinks, blues, golds filling the night sky. Nari grinned from ear to ear, excited to see fireworks.

"Wah! It's so pretty!" she chimed, rolling down the window.

"Hey, close the window, it's cold." Chanyeol complained.

"Let's go to the bridge!" Nari called to him with her head partially out the window, ignoring his command.

Chanyeol watched her as she watched the fireworks pop in the air, hesitant.

Nari looked at him. "Hurry!"

Chanyeol looked at her for a few more seconds before giving in, driving until he could pull over by the bridge, putting the car in park. "Nari-"

Before he could finish, Nari opened the car door and ran over to the edge of the bridge, putting her hands on the rails. The bridge had bright lights lighting up the waters below, making the view even prettier. Nari loved to view fireworks. It was her favorite thing to do with her mom when she was younger, and continued to be her favorite thing to do alone.

Chanyeol groaned and got out of the car, sauntering over to the excited female. He stood beside her, putting his hands in his pockets. It was cold outside and a little breezy, making it a little hard to hear from the popping of the fireworks and the cars zooming by in the background. He looked over at Nari, never seeing her smile so bright. It was so natural, so he assumed she smiled a lot when she wasn't around him.

"I've never viewed the fireworks from up here!" Nari said, making sure to talk loud so Chanyeol could hear her.

Chanyeol leaned against the rail, looking up at the night sky. "I've never seen fireworks."

Nari moved closer to him. "What!" she said loudly, not hearing him.

Chanyeol leaned a bit closer to her and spoke louder. "I've never seen fireworks!"

Nari widened her eyes. "Ever?"

Chanyeol nodded, his breath becoming visible as he sighed. "Ever."

Nari couldn't believe that he had never seen fireworks. Hasn't everyone?

Chanyeol noticed her shock and chuckled, finding it a bit cute, which wasn't like him at all.

"I've either been in the hospital when it happened, or too sick to get out of bed to see them!Bad luck I guess!" he explained.

Nari nodded, frowning. She never really realized that because of the cancer, it really limited him when it came to experiencing things. She was so focused on hating him.

Chanyeol glanced down at her. "But I'm seeing them now!"

Nari snapped out of the negative thoughts and smiled, never really hearing something positive come out of his mouth before. "Aren't they pretty!"

Chanyeol nodded and looked back up at the sky. After a while, the fireworks finally began to stop and it became quieter so they wouldn't have to shout.

Nari sighed, standing up straight and looking up at Chanyeol. "Thank you."

Chanyeol looked down at Nari but immediately looked away. "You don't have to thank me."

Nari shook her head. "I do, but we're even now. I saved you, and you saved me."

Chanyeol pressed his lips together, nodding. "Alright. We're even. Can I take you home now?"

Nari scrunched her face up slightly at his impatience. "Right, I forgot you were like that."

Nari made her way passed him over to the car, Chanyeol scoffing. "What is that supposed to mean?" he called after her.

After they both got in the car, still bickering as Chanyeol drove Nari home, the eventful day finally came to an end.


	5. Cancer

"Mommy." five year-old Chanyeol said, holding his mom's hand as they walked down the street on the way to school.

"Yes, Yeol?" Chanyeol's mom said, looking down at her son.

"My leg hurts." he said, looking straight ahead with a small pout on his lips.

It wasn't the first time Chanyeol's mom has heard him say that. "Still?"

Chanyeol nodded. He's been having pain since he was born, but every day it gets slightly worse. His mom, however, didn't have the money to take him to the hospital. Him and his mom were poor and in debt, so she had no choice but to hope it was nothing serious.

Chanyeol's mom sighed, looking down at her son with sad eyes. "Can you bear with it another day? Mommy with take you to the doctors tomorrow."

Chanyeol nodded once more, knowing that his mom wouldn't take him even though she said she would. He knew it wasn't her fault, but he couldn't help but be disappointed.

Once they got to the school, Chanyeol's mom dropped Chanyeol off and said goodbye, heading off to her job that barely paid enough to help her get by. She was constantly looking for new jobs, but she didn't have enough experience to get hired in anything well paid. She didn't want to make the mistake in working more than two jobs that would keep her away from her son, because that was how she grew up: completely isolated from her mom and dad. She wanted her son to grow up well and take on a good life, but she felt guilty because she couldn't make a good impression on him.

About half way into the day, her phone buzzed on her desk, "Kindergarten" popping up on the screen.

She reached down and picked up her phone, answering it and placing the speaker to her ear. "Hello?"

She heard crying in the background and a woman's shaky voice. "Is this Chanyeol's mother?"

Chanyeol's mom immediately felt uneasy. "Yes it is. Is everything okay?"

"Your son keeps crying and saying his leg hurts. He's on the floor right now holding his leg. Can you please come and get him?" the woman asked.

Chanyeol's mom immediately was on her way there, rushing in through the doors to where the woman was standing. The woman led her to the room where her son was in a ball on the floor, clutching his leg and sobbing. All the other kids were together in one side of the classroom, all with worried and confused expressions on their faces.

Chanyeol's mom rushed over to her son and knelt beside him, reaching out and cradling him in her arms. "Sh... Mommy is here."

"Mommy! My leg hurts!" Chanyeol cried, never feeling such a great deal of pain before.

The teacher rushed over with the phone held in her hands. "Do you want me to call an ambulance?"

Chanyeol's mom hesitated, not knowing if she should allow them to or not. She wouldn't be able to pay for the hospital bill.

"Um... N-No.." she said quietly, still unsure.

"Are you sure?" the teacher said, raising her voice a little as if she were getting angry with her.

Chanyeol's mom stayed quiet again, looking down at her son who wouldn't stop crying and clutching his right leg.

"Mommy!" Chanyeol cried out, reaching and clutching on to his mom's loose shirt. "It hurts!"

The lady was getting impatient. "We have other kids here too, ma'am!"

Chanyeol's mom stroked her son's head, sighing and nodding. "Yes, please call them."

The lady didn't hesitate to dial the number and before long, the ambulance arrived and took Chanyeol away on a stretcher. On the way to the hospital, they gave Chanyeol appropriate pain killers and a pill to put him asleep, soon arriving.

Hours passed as Chanyeol's mom waited in the waiting room, tears streaming down her face and her hair messed up from being pulled from worry and frustration. She was getting impatient, getting up every ten minutes to check if they were done with the testing, the same answer being given every time.

Finally, a doctor came out and called her in to the back room to talk with her.

She sat down on the chair in front of the desk and wiped away excess tears. "Is he okay?"

The doctor smiled reassuringly at her and nodded. "Yes, your son is fine."

She sighed in relief, relaxing a bit with his answer.

The doctor cleared his throat. "However, we did find something." he said, turning the computer screen around so that she could see the x-ray.

Chanyeol's mother looked at the image, not understanding what it meant.

"Let me explain. What you're seeing is an x-ray of Chanyeol's right knee. Your son has been complaining about his knee hurting, right?" he inquired.

Chanyeol's mom nodded. "Every day he would complain and say it's getting worse." she explained.

The doctor sighed. "You should have brought him to us sooner."

She nodded. "I wanted to... but you see, I don't have the money. I don't even know how I'm going to pay for this bill. I'm already so high in debt..."

The doctor frowned at her response but nodded. "That's understandable. Although, I would suggest finding a new way to earn more money."

Chanyeol's mom furrowed her eyebrows. "Why do you say that?"

The doctor looked down briefly as if to stall a bit of time, but immediately looked up again. "I'm sorry to tell you this, but your son has Osteosarcoma. It's a type of bone cancer. I don't know how the doctors didn't find it when he was born, but it seems to have been developing for quite some time."

It was after the first sentence that Chanyeol's mother started crying. She didn't understand why this was happening. It was hard enough living as it was, and now this. She put her hand over her mouth and closed her eyes, shaking her head.

"Is... he going to die?" she choked out.

The doctor gave a small, comforting smile. "You didn't let me finish. Luckily, we caught it in time before it began spreading. I have to say, this is quite a miracle. In most cases, because he's so small, it would have spread a lot faster and would have taken over major parts of his body and he would have died."

She opened her eyes and looked at the doctor, sniffling. "Really? So, he's going to be okay?"

The doctor nodded. "That is why I suggest finding a new payment option. For Chanyeol to survive, he must go through Chemotherapy like any other cancer patient, and it's not cheap, I'm afraid."

Chanyeol's mom buried her head in her hands, completely overwhelmed with the news. She nodded, however, knowing she had no other choice.

"Can I go see him?" she asked, not looking at him.

The doctor agreed and led her out of his office and to the room where Chanyeol was staying. When she walked in, Chanyeol's eyes were open and he was staring off. When he saw his mother, he smiled.

His mother walked over and sat on the stool next to him. "How are you feeling, Yeol?"

"I don't feel anything." he said, a bit of a puzzled expression on his face.

Chanyeol's mom smiled and held her son's hand. "That's good, right?"

Chanyeol looked up at his mom and nodded. "I don't want to feel pain anymore. That wasn't fun at all."

Chanyeol's mom tried not to let her smile falter, wanting to be strong for him. "I know it wasn't."

Chanyeol frowned and moved his arm where the tubes were stuck inside of him. "Can we go home? I don't like this place."

Chanyeol mom glanced over at the doctor that was watching them from the door, making him walk over to the bed by Chanyeol's feet.

"You won't be able to go home for a while, I'm afraid. We have to keep you here to make sure everything is okay." the doctor stated gently.

Chanyeol frowned and squeezed his mom's hand. "But I feel better, and the people here are scary. Please let us go home, mister."

"Yeol, we have to listen to the doctor. You are still sick." Chanyeol's mom intervened.

Chanyeol looked at his mother with tears in his eyes. "You can't afford it though and we have medicine at home."

A tear fell down his mom's cheek. "That medicine won't help this time."

Chanyeol pouted his lip as tears ran down his face. "Why not? It helped me last time. I had a really bad stomach ache and you made me soup. Just make me that again and I'll be okay." Chanyeol pleaded.

"Just a few more days, okay? Your mom can come visit you any time and you'll be going home before you know it. Time will go by fast!" the doctor reassured with a large grin.

Chanyeol looked over at the doctor, staying silent before holding out his pinky. "Promise?"

The doctor walked over to the side of his bed and intertwined his pinky with Chanyeol's. "I promise."

He lied.

It was more than a few days. It was a month. His mom couldn't visit him at any time, only for a few hours a day before kicking her out. Time didn't go by fast. It went slower than ever. Adding on to that, the treatments were painful and long. The sleepless nights seemed to last forever with the doctors and nurses coming in every hour to check on him, shining lights in his face and taking their sweet time to make sure nothing was wrong. After all that, they threatened to kick him out.

"Please! You said I could pay you when I got the money, so why are you rushing me? Give me a few more days at least!" Chanyeol's mom pleaded from out in the lobby, the doctor who treated Chanyeol standing in front of her.

"Ma'am, this is one of the best hospitals in Korea. We have a reputation to uphold and patients to treat. If you can't accept the payment method we require, then you're on your own." the doctor said harshly.

Chanyeol's mom grabbed his arm. "Just a month ago you pitied us, and now you're kicking us out? I said I'll pay when I get the money! That was our agreement!"

The doctor pulled his arm away and glared at the woman. "If you don't stop spitting lies, then I'll pull the plug on your son right now."

Chanyeol's mom dropped to her knees and bowed formally to him, her hands clasped together. "Please... I'll do anything. Please."

The doctor showed no sign of giving in, about to walk away. However, before he could, a man walked over to the two and knelt down, putting a hand on the bowing woman's back.

"May I intervene?" the voice said, it sounding deep and firm.

The woman looked up to see a man who looked slightly older than her, glasses that perched loosed on the bridge of his nose, and a suit that looked as though it could buy the entirety of her life.

The man stood up and looked at the doctor, pushing up his glasses. "I happened to overhear the conversation between you two."

The doctor sighed and put his hands in his coat pockets. "This matter is none of your business, sir."

The man held a stern look on his face, not budging. "It's my business if I involve myself. I would like to pay in her place, if that's okay."

Chanyeol's mom lifted her head up to gaze at the man in shock.

The doctor rained an eyebrow, skeptical of the man. "You would like to what? I'm sorry, but we only accept payment from the patients family. Do you know this woman?"

The man looked down at the surprised woman, examining everything before looking back up at the doctor, nodding. "I do. She's my wife."

The woman's jaw dropped open, her eyes widening. She was speechless.

The doctor was also shocked, but he remained calm and looked between the both of them. "You two are married?"

The man nodded and reached down, taking the woman's arm and helping her stand up. "I was going to ask her to marry me at dinner, but I suppose now's a good time."

He turned to face her and smiled, tilting his head slightly. "Will you marry me?"

Chanyeol's mom was still speechless, not knowing what to say. Without the doctor noticing, the man gave a sly wink to her. Without looking away from the man, she nodded hesitantly, glancing over at the doctor.

The doctor was silent for a while, still looking between the both of them. He knew something was off, but decided to ignore it.

"Fine. Pay by tonight or I'm pulling the plug." the doctor grumbled before walking off.

Chanyeol's mom was still processing what had happened.

When she did, she bowed to the man. "Thank you. I'll find some way to pay you back as soon as I can, but I'm broke right now..."

The man chuckled. "I don't want money from you."

Chanyeol's mom looked up at him, confused. "But I insist... You lied to a doctor for me. If the hospital finds out-"

"Not if we're actually married." he interrupted, his expression not changing.

She was once again surprised, clearing her throat. "Actually married?"

The man nodded before motioning to her left hand. "You don't have a ring, so I'm assuming you're single."

Chanyeol's mom lifted her hand up, looking at the empty spot on her ring finger.

The man tilted his head. "I'm correct, aren't I?"

Chanyeol's mom looked back at the man, a bit uneasy. "You're correct... but I have a son. He'll be so shocked, especially only a month after he was diagnosed."

The man's face softened a little. "Cancer?"

She nodded, looking down to her feet.

The man sighed but shrugged his shoulders. "I'll pay for your son's treatments."

She snapped her head back up at him before shaking her head, waving her hand in front of her. "Oh no, that would be too much to ask of you."

The man simpered. "I offered."

"I can't accept such a large offer." she retorted.

"It's not large for me. I have plenty of money to go around." he said cockily.

She stared at him with worry in her eyes, not wanting to make a rash decision. "I... I don't know what my son will think of it."

The man inhaled a breath, putting his hands in his pockets. "I'm sure he'll be thankful. It would be saving his life."

She stayed silent. It was true she was willing to do anything to save him. She knew that if the hospital pulled the plug, it wouldn't be long before his cancer spread. He needed the chemo and the proper treatment. She wondered if maybe she could just let them discharge him. He would probably survive for at least another year. Maybe in that time she could come up with the money to bring him back to the hospital for treatment. Although, she knew that would most likely not work. She didn't want to risk losing her son. She could barely stand seeing him in so much pain. He was all she really had left. She couldn't lose him.

She looked up at the man before clearing her throat. "Alright... I'll marry you. Even though I don't know you." she agreed with an uncomfortable frown.

The man smiled gratefully, nodding his head. "Good decision."

She didn't respond, tucking her thin, greasy hair behind her ear.

After the man paid the hospital bill, Chanyeol's mom bowed once again. "Thank you again."

The man nodded and held his phone out to her. "Please give me your contact information. I'll get the marriage arrangements and call you when they are ready."

She nodded slowly, still not feeling very happy about the situation. She felt guilty that this is what her life had come to, and that it was being put on her son as well. She didn't know what he would think of this, but knowing him, he wouldn't like it. She just hoped it was the best decision. 

After putting in her contact information, she handed the phone back to him. "Why are you doing this? Why are you helping us?"

The man was silent for a few seconds before responding bluntly. "I pity you."

And with that, he took the phone back and turned around, walking out the entrance of the hospital.


	6. Wedding

A few weeks passed, Nari slowly getting used to her new job working at Chanyeol's house. She actually began to not hate it. Ever since that day she spent with Chanyeol, she started not to hate him as much either. They still weren't that close and didn't really get along, but it wasn't dreadful seeing him. They stayed out of each other's way most of the time anyway. She felt her body getting slightly weaker, and she was in really bad pain most of the time, but she figured that was just her getting used to it. When it came down to the secret, she was able to get away with her just simply being a housekeeper and leaving the part out about being Chanyeol's healer to Gong Joo and Dom. Her father was also oblivious, not putting in enough effort to actually care about where she went every day.

Nari was currently at the cafe, helping clean off the tables with a damp rag. She turned her attention to Dom who was kneeling under one of the tables with a disgusted expression, whining as he scraped a few pieces of gum off the bottom of the table.

"Why do people do this?" he complained, making small crying noises.

Nari couldn't help but to let out a small giggle, putting her hand over her mouth so it wasn't noticeable.

Dom turned his attention over to her, his disgusted expression turning to a small glare. "You try doing this!" he whined.

Nari shook her head. "No thank you."

Dom scoffed before continuing to pry the gum from under the table, mumbling complaints under his breath.

Nari smiled, her gaze lingering on Dom for a few seconds before turning her attention towards her phone that started buzzing. She took it out of her pocket and looked at the caller ID, seeing it was Leigha.

She looked at the phone for a few seconds, wondering why she was calling, before answering it. "Hello?"

She heard Leigha's mellifluous voice. "Nari! Sorry for the sudden call. I would like to ask you something."

She sounded excited, making Nari slightly anxious. "What is it?"

"Our family is invited to a wedding this Saturday. Would you like to come?" she offered.

Nari was surprised, not understanding why she would want her to come to such an event. "But that's tomorrow..."

"I'm know it's such short notice," Leigha added. "But I would love it if you came."

Not even an explanation... "Well... I guess I could." Nari said uneasily.

"Great! I'll have Chanyeol come pick you up tomorrow at eleven!" Leigha beamed, immediately hanging up.

"I-" Nari stopped, removing the phone from her ear to see that Leigha had hung up.

Nari scoffed, wondering why people are always catching her off guard like this. "I don't even have a dress..."

Gong Joo, overhearing Nari's conversation, walked over to her from behind. "What was that about?"

Nari lifted her head up quickly to face her. "Oh... I've been invited to a wedding."

Gong Joo's face lit up. "You have? Whose wedding?"

Nari blinked, taking a moment. "I... don't know."

Gong Joo stared at Nari. "You got invited to a wedding for someone you don't even know?"

Nari put her phone back in her pocket, nodding. "Apparently so." she chuckled.

Gong Joo followed Nari as she went to the back counter. "Who invited you?"

Nari leaned against the counter. "Chanyeol's mom."

Gong Joo looked at her quizzically. "Chanyeol's mom invited you?"

Nari simply nodded, spacing out as she thought about what she would wear.

"Maybe she's trying to get you to go so Chanyeol isn't lonely." Gong Joo blurted out.

Nari snapped out of her thoughts and looked up at her in surprise. "Of course she isn't." Nari defended.

Gong Joo chuckled at Nari's reaction. "Why else would she want you to go?"

Nari froze, turning her head away. "Well... I'm a pretty likable person..."

Gong Joo narrowed her eyes at Nari, but just sighed, leaving it at that. "Well... What are you planning to wear? All I ever see you in are jeans and jackets."

Nari frowned, looking down with a grave expression. "I don't know... Maybe I should cancel."

Gong Joo looked at her for a few moments before a smile appeared on her face. "I'll get you something to wear, and I'll make you look really nice too."

Nari became uneasy, not used to being pampered at all. "You don't have to..." she said quietly.

Gong Joo shook her head. "I want to. It sounds fun."

Nari looked up at her before giving a small smile. "Well okay... But nothing too fancy."

Dom made his way over to them, a grin on his face, a bag full of gum in his hand. "Am I finally going to see my Nari in a pretty outfit?"

Nari looked over at him, a pout forming. "Are you saying I don't look pretty already?"

Dom widened his eyes and dropped the bag in his hand, immediately wrapping his arms around Nari, squeezing her. "I didn't mean it like that! You always look pretty! You're the prettiest girl ever!" he whined.

Nari scrunched up her face but laughed as well. "I thought so." she said jokingly.

Dom let go of her and put his hands on her cheeks, squishing her cheeks together. "I still wanna see you in a dress though. It's my dream." he cooed.

Nari nudged his hands off of her, rubbing her cheeks. "Don't worry, you will, silly boy!"

Dom beamed and wrapped his arms around her against, swaying with her in his arms. "I'm so excited!" he said radiantly.

Nari nuzzled herself into him, swaying along with him before Gong Joo scolded them, pulling them apart. "We're at work!"

Both Dom and Nari pouted, looking at Gong Joo sadly before sending sneaky smiles to each other.

_

The next morning, Nari was still sleeping when she was awoken to someone shaking her. She groaned groggily and opened her eyes slightly, seeing a blurry Gong Joo. Once her vision focused, she opened her eyes all the way and sat up.

"Wakey wakey!" Gong Joo beamed, shaking the object in her hand.

Nari rubbed her eyes, her hair sticking up from all sides. "Why are you so early? We aren't supposed to go shopping yet."

Gong Joo motioned to Nari's clock on her nightstand. "It's already nine."

Nari widened her eyes and checked her phone's time in panic, frowned when she saw that the time was correct.

She ruffled her hair in a frustrated manner. "I overslept."

Gong Joo smiled and laid the object out on Nari's bed. "That's why I went shopping for you."

Nari looked down at the plastic wrapped article of clothing with a hanger sticking out on the top. "You didn't have to..."

Gong Joo just shook her head. "I know you've been really tired lately with your new job and everything, so think of it as a gift. Plus, I can't let you go to a wedding in jeans."

Nari looked up at Gong Joo before smiling. "Thank you. I really appreciate this."

Gong Joo nodded before clapping her hands together. "Alright, hurry and go put it on. We only have two hours to prepare."

Nari nodded obediently, getting out of bed and taking the dress to the bathroom to change. When she came out, she had an unsure look on her face. The dress was white and had lace short sleeves that fell off both her shoulders. The dress was fitting and went down to her mid thigh.

Nari stood still, holding her left hand with her right in front of her. "It's a little much, don't you think?"

Gong Joo smiled widely as she examined the dress, shaking her head. "You look wonderful."

Nari couldn't help but to smile at the compliment, loosening her grip and swaying slightly. "It's a gorgeous dress... It must have cost a fortune."

Gong Joo shook her head. "Don't worry about the cost."

Nari went over to the mirror that leaned against the wall, biting her lip as she looked at herself. "I like it."

Gong Joo nodded in approval, walking over to her. "Now, time to get you all pretty."

Nari frowned. "Why do you guys keep saying that? Do I look ugly or something?" she joked.

Gong Joo laughed and nodded, a joking grin on her face. "You do. Really ugly."

Nari widened her eyes as if to be offended, completely aware that she was joking. "I knew it."

Gong Joo suddenly went straight-faced and flicked Nari's forehead. "You knew nothing."

Nari winced at the flick but smiled as Gong Joo turned to take some makeup out of the bag she brought. Nari sat on the bed, waiting for Gong Joo to start pampering her up.

When she was finished, Gong Joo handed her a mirror to look at herself in, a satisfied smile on her face. "I did a good job."

Nari's eyes widened as she looked at herself in the mirror, her makeup and hair all done. "I look like a totally different person." she said in awe.

"It's amazing what a little makeup could do." Gong Joo chuckled.

Nari nodded, smiling as she admired herself. "I think I really was ugly before."

Gong Joo took the mirror away from her. "That's not true."

Nari grinned up at Gong Joo but remembered something, gasping slightly. "Wait, I don't have any shoes to wear with this dress. It'll look weird with sneakers."

Gong Joo frowned, trying to think of some way to compromise. "You don't have any type of heels or anything?"

Nari was about to shake her head but then remembered something. "Hold on."

Nari got up and rushed out of her room down the hall to her dad's room, making her way to the closet and kneeling down. She took out a black cardboard shoe box that had some dust on it from being in the closet untouched. She opened it slowly, moving the pieces of thin paper out of the way to reveal a pair of black heels. She took them out of the box, a doleful look on her face. They were her mom's heels before she had passed away. They haven't been touched or worn for years. Nari tucked the box away again, taking the heels and heading back to her room where Gong Joo was.

"I found some." Nari announced, sitting back on the bed so she could slip them on.

Gong Joo grinned, clapping her hands together and intertwining her fingers. "Perfect!"

After Nari slipped on the heels, she stood up. She hasn't really walked in heels before, so it was a strange feeling but she got used to it almost instantly, not having too much trouble despite being on carpet.

Gong Joo sighed dreamily. "You look great. Let me get a picture."

Gong Joo took out her phone and pointed the camera at her. Nari smiled and posed awkwardly, Gong Joo cleanly snapping the photo. She immediately sent the image to Dom, in which he replied back with ten heart eye emojis and "NARI PLEASE MARRY ME" in all caps. It wasn't necessarily a secret that he had a crush on her.

Nari laughed when Gong Joo showed her the text from him, shaking her head at his silliness.

"I think he's serious." Gong Joo joked, looking at her with a deadpan expression.

Nari nodded in agreement. "I think so too."

After a while, it was time for Gong Joo to leave. "Be safe and call me if you need anything. I want to know what happens when you come back."

Nari smiled and nodded, waving to her as she got back into her car and left her house. Nari went back inside to her room and waited for another half hour before hearing her father call her downstairs. She examined how she looked in the mirror one last time before eventually making her way downstairs.

Chanyeol had come to pick her up as told to by his mom. When he got there, he knocked on the front door. He looked around as he waited for someone to answer the door, putting his hands in his suit pockets. He felt a slight nervousness, not understanding why since this wasn't for a date or anything. He quickly pulled himself together when he heard the door open and Nari's father appear in a t-shirt and sweatpants. Her father looked at him with confusion since he had no idea why he was there.

"Um... why..-" Nari's father began.

"I'm here to pick Nari up." Chanyeol said hurriedly, taking his hands out of his pockets.

Getting the wrong idea, her father's eyes widened in understanding, opening the door. "Please come inside."

Chanyeol smiled politely and made his way inside, looking around at the small home. It was significantly smaller than his house and slightly messier too, but it was cozy.

"Please wait here." her father said before making his way over to the bottom of the stairs, calling his daughter's name.

He ambled back over to Chanyeol, pushing his glasses up the rim of his nose. "She'll be down in a second."

Chanyeol nodded, silence immediately surrounding the both of them. The awkwardness from her father made Chanyeol feel awkward, rubbing his arm uncomfortably as they both waited for Nari to come down.

Both the men turned their heads towards the staircase where they saw Nari walking down carefully, trying not to fall because of the heels. Chanyeol's eyes widened as well as her father's, surprised to see how she looked. Nari looked over at the two of them when she made it down the stairs, walking over to them.

She smiled humbly, rubbing her neck shyly. "Um... Hi."

Chanyeol was lost for words, but tried hard to get his thoughts in order. "A-Are you ready?" he asked, his voice cracking, making him looking down witheringly.

Nari put her hand to her mouth, trying not to laugh at the obvious voice crack. "Yes."

Chanyeol looked up, his cheeks rosy from embarrassment. "Then l-let's go."

Nari nodded, glancing at her father who was still in awe as well. "I'll be back."

Her father looked up from his vacant state, blinking repeatedly. "A-Alright."

He immediately left the room and back to the kitchen table to continue his work.

Nari frowned, hoping to hear a compliment or something from him. She sighed and made her way in front of Chanyeol. They both exited her home and got into his car.

"So we're meeting your mom and dad there?" Nari asked, buckling her seat belt.

Chanyeol, avoiding eye contact, nodded as he started the car and pulled out of the driveway. "Yeah."

Nari continued to look at him. "Where is the wedding?"

Chanyeol ignored her staring. "Seongnam."

Nari looked away for a moment to think about how far it'll be before nodding, looking back up at him. She stared at him for a few seconds, wondering why he was avoiding eye contact.

Chanyeol glanced over at her before looking away again. "You're making me uncomfortable."

Nari blinked and looked away, clearing her throat. "You're avoiding eye contact with me."

"Well I'm driving. Want me to crash?" he questioned sarcastically.

Nari felt her cheeks heat up, embarrassed that she thought it was because she looked nice. "I see." she chuckled nervously.

Now it was Nari avoiding eye contact, looking out the window silently. Chanyeol looked over at her, a small smile sneaking on his face.

About a half hour passed and they finally made it to the wedding, taking an extra ten minutes just trying to find a place to park.

"Just park somewhere." Nari complained after the fifth time going around the parking lot.

"There are no parking spaces." Chanyeol replied, annoyed.

"There's one right there." Nari pointed out.

"That's handicap." Chanyeol stated.

Nari put her hands on her lap. "That seems to be our only option."

"Do you want me to get a ticket?" Chanyeol said, irritated.

"Then park out by the sidewalk!" Nari argued.

Chanyeol glowered. "That would be too far a walk."

"You're just lazy. This wouldn't have happened if you had picked me up earlier." Nari blamed.

Chanyeol looked over at her, going around a sixth time. "You're lucky I picked you up at all. I could have made you take a taxi."

Nari glared at him. The bickering continued until he finally took her orders and parked by the sidewalk, a few ways down the road. They both got out and started walking, rushing to make it in time for the ceremony.

"Why are there so many people here anyways? How much family do you have?" Nari questioned, struggling to keep up with Chanyeol's fast walking.

"This is all my step dad's side of the family. I don't even know who's getting married, honestly." Chanyeol explained.

Nari grabbed onto his suit, already out of breath. "Please slow down."

Chanyeol looked back at Nari who was obviously struggling because of her heels. He sighed and grabbed her hand, continuing to walk fast. Nari looked up at him in surprise, but struggling even more now. They finally made it, the ceremony half way through. They entered through the doors and made their way to the seats next to his mom and step dad, quietly watching for the remainder of the wedding.

When it was finished, Chanyeol looked over at Nari who had a couple tears streaming down, sniffling and dabbing at her eyes so it wouldn't ruin her makeup.

Chanyeol leaned over to her. "Why are you crying?" he whispered.

Nari jumped a little, not expecting him to lean over so suddenly. "It's so sweet." she whispered.

Chanyeol snorted, leaning back in his chair without a word.

Nari ignored his mocking, smiling from how nice the wedding was.

Finally, it was time for the after party. There was a ballroom rented out and there were many fancy adults with glasses of wine in their hands, socializing with one another. She was thankful to Gong Joo for dressing her up, knowing that she would probably stand out if it were her choice of fashion.

Nari wasn't used to going to parties. She was always sort of introverted and didn't enjoy many social gatherings, so she stuck by Chanyeol's side as they entered the large room. He looked down at her, watching as her eyes scanned the wide room.

"Something wrong?" he questioned.

Nari looked up at him and shook her head. "I've just never seen so many people at a wedding before."

Chanyeol looked around as well, leading Nari over to the side where there weren't as many people. "My step dad has a lot of family, and they always invite people from their family." he explained.

Nari nodded understandingly, finding it sort of absurd that so many people can just show up to an event like this.

Time passed and the two just stood there, occasional chatter between them. Eventually Chanyeol left Nari alone to talk to some family that he knew, not necessarily being his choice. Nari stood alone in the same spot, sort of uncomfortable since she didn't know anyone and occasionally got looks from some of the older people.

About an hour into the party, Nari felt her mouth become dry from not drinking anything all day, so she sauntered over to the table that served wine and water, picking up a red solo cup and pouring water into it. She took a few sips, satisfied now that her mouth wasn't so dry. Before she could poor more into her cup, she heard a splash from behind her, causing her to spin around to see what it was.

When she turned around, she saw Leigha with a shocked expression and her hair and clothes wet from the liquid that had been thrown on her. Another woman who looked a lot older than Leigha was standing in front of her with an empty wine glass in her hand and had an angry expression on her face. Everyone's attention turned to the two women, surprise etched on all their faces.

"How dare you show your face here!" the older woman shouted, almost as if she was out of breath.

Leigha remained calm as if she wasn't fazed by her words. "We were invited by the bride."

"And that gives you the right to come here?" the woman questioned.

Leigha nodded once, expressionless. "Of course. If we were invited, it's only polite to show up, isn't it?"

The woman gasped dramatically at Leigha's comment, putting her hand on her chest. "I don't believe this. You know you aren't welcome in this family. Do you have no shame?"

It was obvious that it was tough for Leigha to keep a straight face since she was such a sensitive woman, but she kept it up. "I'm sorry that you are unhappy that me and my son came, but I would appreciate it if you didn't cause such a scene."

"A scene?" the woman repeated, scoffing. "There wouldn't be a scene if you had just stayed away!"

Leigha flinched at her loud shouting, staying silent.

The woman stared at Leigha intently before stepping forward. "Now you have nothing to say? Then I'll keep talking. I don't know what my son sees in you, but you're worthless! Couldn't even produce a healthy child! A worthless child from a worthless mother!"

Nari widened her eyes, looking around to see where everyone was. She saw Leigha's husband standing to the side watching, but not saying anything. Nari clenched her fists, knowing that it wasn't her place to intervene.

"You may call me names all you want, but do not bring my son into this." Leigha said, giving her everything to be calm.

The woman chuckled sarcastically. "Why not? Are you afraid he'll try to kill himself again because he knows what's true?"

Leigha's eyes, along with everyone else's, widened, surprised that word had gotten to her. She looked over to her husband who didn't even have a guilty expression but looked away, making it obvious that he was the one who told his mother about it.

"I'll tell you again politely... Do not talk about my son that way." Leigha said through clenched teeth.

The woman scoffed once again. "You're right, I'm sorry. It's not his fault he turned out that way. It's yours and whatever man you slept with's f-"

Leigha took another person's glass of wine and splashed it in the woman's face. "I told you not to talk about him!"

The woman stood with her mouth open, wiping off the red wine that went everywhere. By this time, Chanyeol made his way through the crowd with his eyes widened, staring at the two women who were soaked in wine.

The woman glowered at Leigha before grabbing someone's plate of vanilla cake from their hands. Before she could throw it at her, Nari ran in front of Leigha and took the cake to her face, it getting all over her and her white dress. Leigha opened her eyes after closing them from thinking it was going to hit her, before widening them once that wasn't the case.

"Nari." Leigha voiced quietly, in shock.

Everyone stared at them, watching as Nari removed some of the chunks of cake from her face and dress.

Nari looked at the woman who threw the cake, a surprised expression also on her face. "This is supposed to be a heartwarming wedding where we celebrate the new life for the married couple." Nari complained. "Don't do this here."

It wasn't long before the woman was glaring again, but this time at Nari. "And who are you?"

Nari looked at the woman with a straight face, ignoring her question and turning around to Leigha. "Are you okay?"

Leigha nodded, looking at Nari pitifully. "Why would you do that?"

Before Nari could respond, the woman grabbed Nari's wrist and yanked her back so she was turned towards her. "Young lady! I asked you a question!"

Nari pulled her wrist out of the woman's grip, not getting a chance to answer before Chanyeol finally stepped in, grabbing Nari's hand and pulling her behind him. "Sorry to interrupt, but I'm ending this here."

Nari looked up at him, sighing. "Took you long enough."

Chanyeol glanced at her with an annoyed expression before looking over to his step dad. "How about controlling your mom and stop watching like a coward as she assaults your wife? Oh wait, of course that wouldn't matter to you now, would it?"

Nari actually saw a hint of embarrassment and anger in his step dad's eyes, but was snapped out of it when she was pulled out of the crowd to the lobby where there were no people. Chanyeol sat Nari down on the round, cushioned chair and sat down beside her, taking out some napkins that he grabbed on their way out.

Without a word, he took one of the napkins and moved his hand forward, but Nari leaned back, confused with his actions. Chanyeol looked at her, seeing slight anger on his face, before putting his other hand on her shoulder and pulling her towards him. She widened her eyes but calmed down when he removed his hand and instead wiped her face where the cake was smeared.

"Why did you step in?" Chanyeol finally asked, breaking the silence.

Nari was quiet for a few seconds before speaking. "Well you weren't doing anything."

Chanyeol stopped wiping, moving his eyes so they met hers. He stayed like that for a few moments before starting to wipe again.

"You still shouldn't have done anything." he scolded lightly.

Nari stared at him as if what he said didn't make sense. "Then you should have. She's your mother. How could you just watch her get treated like that and take the blame?"

"Because she is to blame." he blurted out.

Nari's face turned serious, reaching her hand up and grabbing his, removing his hand from her face. "Do you really believe that?"

Chanyeol looked down at Nari, staying silent.

He stared at her for a while before finally speaking, removing his hand from her grip and turning his head away. "No."

He put down the napkin that was in his hand and looked down, sadness replacing the anger on his face. It was then that Nari understood why Chanyeol seemed so harsh to his mom all the time. He wanted to blame someone, but couldn't bring himself to blame his mom. He was a tortured soul.

"Chanyeol," Nari called, reaching up and placing her hand on his jawline, moving his head so he was looking at her. "You don't need to blame anyone."

Chanyeol's eyes trailed down to the cream by her lips and picked up another napkin, wiping it away. "I know."

Nari allowed him to continue wiping away what he hasn't yet. "No you don't. You're going to continue to have moments where you blame your mom, because she's the only one you can blame. I know that because I was in the same position."

Chanyeol kept wiping the cake off of her, still paying attention to what she was saying.

Nari smiled sadly, relaxing her body now that she wasn't as uncomfortable. "When my mom died, I constantly blamed my dad. I was young, so I thought that was the only way she could have died, because he couldn't give her the help she needed. After a few years, however, I finally realized it wasn't his fault at all. It was mine."

Chanyeol's hand stopped and he looked down at her, his eyes locking with hers. He didn't know what to say, so he kept silent. Nari saw his expression, finding it kind of funny how he actually looks concerned. Nari broke eye contact and took the last napkin, wiping near her collarbone and the top of her dress. Chanyeol continued to stare at her, not really understanding before how sad of a life she must live as well. He always thought she was just a know-it-all who didn't actually care, but thinking back, she did care. Chanyeol sighed and stood up once she was all clean, or as clean as she could be, the cake leaving stains in her dress.

Nari frowned as she looked down at them. "This was such a nice dress..."

Chanyeol couldn't help but to let a small smile inch onto his face as he watched her wipe at the stains. "I'll buy you another dress. Come on."

Nari looked up at him. "Don't just throw your money around like that. This probably costed a lot." she scolded.

Chanyeol ignored her and reached down, grabbing her hand. Nari looked up at him, confused by his actions but followed him back inside the ballroom, everything back to normal as though nothing had happened.

A slow song was playing and the lights were dimmed, reminding Nari of a high school dance. No one was really dancing besides a few married couples, the rest of the people just chatting and socializing. The woman who caused trouble earlier was sitting at one of the tables with a few other people, her expression nasty as always.

Nari looked up in surprise when Chanyeol stopped towards the middle of the room and turned to face her. "What are you...-"

Before she could finish what she was saying, Chanyeol reached down with his other hand and placed both of Nari's hands on his shoulders for her, moving his hands back down so they were on her waist.

Nari was still surprised, not knowing Chanyeol had this side to him. Maybe he's drunk...? She shook away that thought since he didn't look like it at all, but still thought he was acting strange. Although, despite being confused about what he was doing, she was more confused about why her heart was beating so fast.

She allowed her grip to tightened on his shoulders, pulling herself closer so she could wrap her hands around the back of his neck a little. Without a word from either of them, they swayed to the music. Chanyeol tried not to make too much eye contact, but occasionally they would lock eyes. Chanyeol was also confused as to why he was doing this, but he just went with it.

Chanyeol was feeling even more confident, so he took her hand and twirled her around, both of them starting to dance more comfortable with one another. After returning back into his arms, she smiled up at him, causing Chanyeol's heart to also start racing abnormally. Not knowing what was coming over him, he cupped Nari's jawline with one of his hands and leaned in, Nari freezing in her spot. She closed her eyes when his face got close to hers, but before their lips could touch, a shooting pain launched in his leg which caused him to yelp and collapse to the ground.


	7. Ferris Wheel

Everything seemed to happen so fast. One moment he was about to kiss her, the next he was on the ground. Everyone turned around and gasped, yet another commotion occurring.

Nari looked down at Chanyeol who was writhing in pain on the ground, groaning from the pain that was in his leg. Nari hurried to kneel down beside him, clutching his leg with her hands.

"It's okay, just calm down." Nari voiced, trying to soothe him the best she could despite his position.

"A-Ah.. I.. damn.." he choked out, breathing heavily.

He didn't want to ask for help, but he could see now what his mom meant when she said he would become desperate enough in this situation. However, he continued to stay as silent as possible, clenching his fists and keeping his eyes shut tight.

Everyone watched in concern as Nari took a deep breath, doing what she always did when she had to heal him. She put in her everything, feeling the pain start to transfer. She wished this didn't have to happen here in front of all these people, worrying that it would cause a lot of talk to go around. She knew it wasn't her problem, but seeing how these people treated one another was enough to make her worry for them.

Not long after starting to heal him did the pain slowly fade away from his leg, eventually subsiding. He calmed down, breathing heavily with his hand laying on his chest. Nari removed her hands from her leg, feeling a great deal of pain in her own leg now, feeling weak all of a sudden. She leaned on her right arm for balance as she looked at Chanyeol, flinching slightly as the pain caused distress on her body.

After a little while of them both being on the ground, Leigha rushed over to Chanyeol and knelt down, putting her hand on his shoulder. "Chanyeol?" she called worriedly.

Chanyeol started to breath normally again and opened his eyes to look up at his mother.

Leigha cupped his cheek. "Are you okay?"

Chanyeol nodded, sitting up in his spot. He looked up, expecting to see Nari, but she wasn't there.

Chanyeol put a hand on his knee. "Where's Nari?"

As if to forget who she was, Leigha looked at him with a confused expression before it changed to slight surprise, remembering. "Oh... I don't know. She was right there a minute ago."

Chanyeol frowned, immediately getting up to go look for her. His leg felt fine like nothing had happened previously. He heard his mom apologize to the bride and groom for all the disruptions and tell her they would be leaving. Chanyeol made his way out to the lobby, looking around for Nari but unfortunately didn't see anything. He peaked into a few other rooms around the lobby but didn't see anything either, deciding to look outside for her. As he walked out the front entrance, he scanned the area and spotted Nari finally, sitting out on the ledge of the sidewalk.

Chanyeol made his way over to her, sitting beside her. He didn't notice her clutching her leg and was unable to by the time she removed her hand, looking up at him with a forced smile.

"Why are you out here?" Chanyeol questioned, feeling a bit awkward from what had happened before the pain hit.

Nari looked around, not being able to tell him that she didn't feel good. "Just getting some fresh air."

Chanyeol nodded understandingly. "It was kind of stuffy in there."

Nari stayed silent, turning her head so she was facing forward.

After a minute of staying silent, Chanyeol finally spoke. "How do you do it?"

Nari looked up at him with a confused expression. "Do what?"

Chanyeol cleared his throat. "The thing you do. The healing. Are you some sort of fairy?"

Nari chuckled at the last thing he said. "I'm not a fairy, and I'm pretty sure fairies don't heal people."

Chanyeol looked down at the cement, scraping his foot against the gravel. "Then what are you?"

Nari turned her head towards him, tilting it to the side. "A healer?"

Chanyeol glanced at her briefly but immediately looked away, pressing his lips together. "Have you always been able to heal people?"

Nari hummed, pressing her lips together as well as she thought. "Yes, but it didn't really start as me being able to heal necessarily. It was kind of like a virus that infected me, but I was born with it. Then later on I found out that I could heal people."

Chanyeol nodded, taking in the information. "Can you heal yourself?"

Nari shook her head. "Sadly, no."

Chanyeol frowned. "That's not fair."

Nari smiled at his concern. "It's alright. I don't need it." she reassured cheerfully.

Chanyeol looked back over to her, impressed that she could be so cheerful. They both stayed silent again until it was finally time to leave. They both headed home, the eventful day coming to an end.

_

A week later, Nari and Chanyeol were still slightly awkward with each other. They would tend to try and avoid each other discretely, but when they did run into each other, they just made small talk. Besides from the healing sessions, they didn't make too much contact. Ever since the wedding, however, Nari felt a different way about Chanyeol. When she wasn't at his house, she would miss him. When she was at his house, she would want to see him, but when she did see him, she got nervous and turned the other direction. It was hard to believe she hated him, but she could tell he was changing. He wasn't as rude to her as before and seemed to view the world more positively than before. She was proud of him.

Chanyeol felt the same way as Nari did, but he avoided her for a different reason. He also became slightly nervous when around her, as before he didn't feel anything. He caught himself thinking about her at random moments, immediately trying to stop, but that didn't work. Because he knew he was catching feelings, he became scared. There's something in the world that he actually wants to live for. He found something he wanted to protect and keep, forever knowing that at any time it could be taken away. His cancer has never spread too far outside of his knee, but cancer had it's own way of doing things. His death was inevitable, and he knew that more than anything.

Nari was currently alone in the living room of Chanyeol's house alone. Chanyeol was currently in the shower and no one else was home so she took the opportunity to video chat Gong Joo and Dom who were working in the cafe.

"Nari! You're in big trouble!" Dom shouted through the phone, his face close to the camera to where she could only see his nose and mouth.

Nari giggled. "Why, Mr. Nose?"

Dom backed up and pouted. "Now you're even more in trouble for making fun of me!" he said childishly. "But the first thing you are in trouble for is the fact you almost kissed another guy and didn't even tell me!"

Nari laughed at his childish complaining. "I didn't tell you because I knew you wouldn't be happy."

Dom pouted. "Still! How could you tell Gong Joo all about it and not me? It really hurts my feelings." he whined, throwing a mini tantrum.

Nari smiled at him. "I'm sorry, I'll tell you all about it next time."

At this moment, Chanyeol came from behind the corner with a towel in his hand, drying his wet, curly hair. He stopped when he heard other voices and looked to see Nari whose back was turned to him on the couch and the image of a guy on her phone, whining. He stood half hidden behind the corner, listening in as he watched.

"Next time? No! You're not allowed to kiss any other guys! I still haven't gotten mine..." Dom said sadly.

Nari sighed, not knowing how she dealt with this boy. He was older than her but acted like a young child.

"We didn't even kiss, dumb dumb." she insulted playfully, slightly disappointment behind her voice.

Dom huffed. "You wanted to though, didn't you?"

Chanyeol crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, interested in Nari's response.

Nari felt her cheeks heat up, chuckling nervously. "I-I... not exactly... but... maybe a little." she said, flustered.

Chanyeol smirked, feeling giddy all of a sudden.

"You totally do! I'm hurt." Dom said dramatically, clutching his shirt by his chest.

Nari touched her warm cheek with her free hand, pulling herself together. "Don't be... I think he was just delusional. It was probably an accident."

Chanyeol raised an eyebrow. "Delusional?" he mouthed.

Gong Joo took the phone from Dom. "I doubt that, Nari. From what you told me, he definitely meant it."

Chanyeol nodded unconsciously, immediately widening his eyes from his actions and shaking his head, convincing himself he didn't mean what he first did.

Nari sighed, thinking back it making her feel butterflies in her stomach. "But it was so sudden... He didn't seem like himself."

Gong Joo laughed at Nari's naivety. "That's what love does to you, child."

Nari felt herself blush again when she used the word "love". "L-Love?"

Chanyeol also felt his cheeks flush when he heard the word, causing him to clear his throat. Nari jumped and turned her head to see Chanyeol, causing him to snap into action to try and make his presence just appeared. He naturally dried his hair, ruffling it with the towel as he sauntered over to her.

"Who are you talking to?" he asked, acting as though he wasn't listening to her conversation.

Nari froze, immediately fearing that he had overheard her. "J-Just a c-couple friends," she answered. "You didn't happen to hear..." she trailed off, looking at him questionably.

Chanyeol pretended to not know what she was talking about. "Hear what?"

Nari immediately released a breath, relieved. "Oh... nothing."

"Is that the guy you almost kissed?" Dom questioned, shoving his face into the camera nosily.

Nari widened her eyes and buried her phone in her lap, embarrassed.

Chanyeol leaned over the back of the couch and grabbed Nari's phone, holding the camera up so it showed his face. "Who are you?"

Nari face-palmed, her face redder than a tomato. She couldn't believe this was happening.

Dom took the camera from Gong Joo's hands and pointed the camera at his face normally. "This is Nari's boyfriend." he said defensively.

Nari widened her eyes again, reaching up and trying to snatch the phone from Chanyeol's hand.

Chanyeol moved so she couldn't reach it. "You're her boyfriend?" he questioned, knowing it wasn't true.

Nari shook her head repeatedly, moving so her knees were on the couch in order to get taller to reach the phone.

"Yep! I most certainly am!" Dom confirmed.

At this point, Nari had her arms wrapped around Chanyeol's shoulders as if she was giving him a back hug, Chanyeol holding the phone out so she still couldn't reach.

Before Chanyeol could answer, Nari snatched the phone away and immediately ended the call, looking at Chanyeol with bug eyes. "You don't just steal other people's phones away from them!"

Chanyeol chuckled at her reaction and turned to look at her with a smirk. "So you have a boyfriend?"

Nari sat back down on the couch properly before looking up at him and shaking her head. "No, I don't! Dom just likes to joke around."

Chanyeol leaned his hands against the back of the couch. "Are you sure? He seemed pretty upset when he found out we almost kissed."

Nari was about to respond normally but the last part made her freeze, the realization that he did hear her conversation hitting her.

She looked up at him in surprise. "Y-You heard?"

Chanyeol smiled at her and nodded. "Everything."

Nari never felt so embarrassed in her life.

She stood up abruptly. "I-I..." she stuttered, her face feeling hot again. "I definitely didn't want to kiss you! I don't want to kiss you! So don't think anything!" she blurted out, avoiding eye contact.

Chanyeol smirked and walked around the couch until he was in front of her.

He leaned down close to her scarlet face. "That's not what you said a few minutes ago." he teased.

Nari gulped. "Y-You shouldn't have been ease-dropping!"

Chanyeol stood back up straight and crossed his arms. "You shouldn't have been talking about something so private in my house."

Nari felt too flustered to think, so she just looked at him once more before walking passed him. "I need to clean." she called behind, leaving the room.

Chanyeol was left with an idiotic smile on his face, biting his lower lip.

Later that night before Nari left to go home, Chanyeol stopped her at the front door. He's been wanting to ask her something for a while, but didn't know if it would be a good idea or not, or how he would do it. As he thought about it, it seemed easier, but when it came to standing directly in front of her, he was at a loss for words.

"Get home safely." he bid her instead of the question, immediately shutting the door in front of her.

Nari thought he was acting strange, but ignored the thought and just made her way home.

Chanyeol went to his room and collapsed on his bed, disappointed in himself that he couldn't ask such a simple question. It wasn't like it meant anything. He laid in bed for at least twenty minutes, unable to think of anything else but what he wanted to ask. He grabbed his phone and went to Nari's number, fiddling with his fingers before finally typing the question in. He reread it before erasing it, sighing heavily.

"Why is this so hard?" he complained, agitated.

He typed in multiple different texts of the same question until finally he just decided to send it. As soon as he hit send, he locked his phone and hid his face under his pillow, waiting for a response.

Meanwhile, Nari was laying in her bed, dozing off, when she heard her phone ding beside her. She opened her eyes and reached over, seeing who the message was from. When she saw it was Chanyeol, she sat up and opened the text.

Nari smiled widely when she read the text:

"The Fair opens tomorrow. Come with me?"

Nari texted her response, the large grin not faltering.

Back at Chanyeol's house, Chanyeol immediately removed his face from under the pillow and opened the text when he heard the ding from his phone. He smiled at her response and kicked his legs from excitement, trying to stay quiet so his mom and step dad won't hear.

"I'd love to! Details?"

He texted her back with details, trying to make it seem like it was no big deal.

Nari opened the text from him immediately:

"How about 7:00 pm? It's more fun at night. I'll pick you up."

Nari texted her response, placing her phone on her chest face-down as she waited.

Chanyeol opened the message:

"Sounds like a plan. Don't be late this time."

Chanyeol laughed at the angry emoji she put after the message before responding.

Nari lifted her phone up and rolled her eyes at the message, turning onto her side:

"You're hard to please."

Nari messaged him back:

"I should be saying that to you."

When Chanyeol read the message, he thought back to how he acted towards her, making him realize how rude he really was. He texted back:

"I just realized I never apologized for being so mean to you. I'm sorry."

"He really has changed." Nari muttered to herself before texting him back:

"It's in the past now. Get some sleep."

Chanyeol read the message and smiled, happy that he didn't permanently hurt their relationship.

"You too. Goodnight."

Nari left the texting at that, putting her phone on the charger. She positioned herself comfortably before closing her eyes, not long before falling asleep.

_

The next day, they arrived at the fair around 7:30 pm. Nari was already getting excited just being there, haven't been to a fair in a long time. Chanyeol was also excited since he loved going to fairs. He liked them better than amusement parks since he hated roller coasters and dumb rides, but the fair just had rigged carnival games and good food. The closest thing to a ride was the large Ferris wheel in the middle of the park, which he wanted to take Nari on.

"So what do you want to do first?" Chanyeol asked, searching the area.

Nari hummed in thought, also looking around. "Let's play a game."

Nari dragged Chanyeol over to one of the carnival games that she spotted, mainly because one of the prizes was a cute stuffed panda. Chanyeol examined the game and rubbed his neck.

"I'm not good at this game." he admitted shamefully.

Nari smiled encouragingly at him. "Don't say that. Just try."

Chanyeol sighed before taking out his wallet, paying a dollar for a try. The game was to take a bean bag and throw it through one of the holes, getting only three tries. Chanyeol attempted the first throw, in which he hit the board. The second throw he almost made it in but it still hit the board. Chanyeol glanced at Nari uneasily, feeling like she was secretly judging him.

"I'm definitely going to make this one." he said confidently.

Nari gave him a thumbs up to give him encouragement, but frowned when he didn't make it once again. Chanyeol, embarrassed, cleared his throat and stepped away.

"The game is rigged. I could never get it in." he exclaimed, chuckling nervously.

Nari nodded in order to make him feel better before stepping in front of him. "Let me try."

She took the bean bag and threw it, frowning when she hit the back board.

Chanyeol smiled hopefully, secretly wanting her to lose so he wouldn't look bad. "It's okay. I'm telling you, it's ri-"

He was cut off when she threw the second bean bag and made it in the top hole, a flashing sound going off signaling that she won the best prize. Nari smiled widely and looked up at Chanyeol whose face went pale from disbelief.

"I guess it's not rigged after all." Nari giggled, taking the stuffed panda.

Chanyeol looked down at her with a straight face before turning and walking off, already wanting to stop playing the games. Nari smiled at his poor sportsmanship and caught up with him, holding the teddy bear out to him.

"Here." she offered.

Chanyeol looked down at the stuffed bear that she held out to him before turning his head away, a small pout on his lips. "You're making me feel worse."

Nari laughed at his attitude, crossing her arms with the bear tucked underneath her arm. "It was one game! I'm sure you'll win the next one."

Chanyeol shook his head stubbornly. "There won't be a next time." he concluded.

Nari scoffed at him. "I never knew you were such a baby."

Chanyeol widened his eyes, offended. "A baby?"

Nari nodded. "A big one at that. Lost one game and you're already pouting."

Chanyeol stopped walking, turning towards her. "I am not pouting."

Nari stopped as well, holding the panda up to his face. "You look sadder than this panda."

Chanyeol looked at the panda's face that did indeed look sad. "I look nothing like that." he said in defense.

"You're right," Nari agreed. "The panda is cuter."

Nari smirked and walked in front of him, looking around for something else to do. Chanyeol watched after her, a smile making its way onto his face as he followed after her.

After spending a lot of time at the fair, it was almost time for them to leave.

"Let's go on the Ferris wheel." Chanyeol suggested, pointing at the large, colorful Ferris wheel that was in front of them.

Nari widened her eyes in excitement and nodded. "Yes!"

The two headed over and paid their way on, getting into the cart. They shut the door and waited for the cart to start going up, Nari giddy with excitement, while Chanyeol was slightly nervous.

As the cart started going up, Nari looked over at Chanyeol and noticed his nervous expression, watching his eyes try to avoid looking down. "Are you okay?"

Chanyeol looked over at Nari and nodded. "I just don't like heights very much."

Nari frowned in concern. "Then why did you suggest coming on?"

Chanyeol looked down, tapping his foot against the metal. "Just... reasons."

Nari narrowed her eyes at him, but let it be. They continued to go around, going at a slow pace. Nari noticed that Chanyeol was still uneasy, so she scooted a bit closer to him so they were touching and slid her hand in hers, intertwining their fingers. She didn't make eye contact with him, but she felt him look at her so she turned her head and smiled at him.

"Don't be scared," she reassured. "I'm right here with you."

Chanyeol stared at her, feeling his heart start beating fast again, but not from nervousness. It was at this moment he was the most terrified to lose her. He knew that if he didn't end it now, he wouldn't be able to ever. He had to make a decision. Let her go to prevent pain for both of them, or stay with her and pull through it together.

She stared at him back, wondering what he was thinking about that put him in such deep thought.

Chanyeol forgot about his fear of heights and was focused on her. All of a sudden the cart stopped and they were at the very top, looking out over all of the park. To add to that, fireworks started exploding in the air, causing Nari to turn her head.

"Fireworks!" she said excitedly.

She smiled widely and looked up at the sky in awe, the reflection of the fireworks in her eyes. Chanyeol, however, didn't move an inch. His eyes stayed directly on her, a sad look on his face.

"This should not be happening." he thought to himself.

Nari continued to look out at the fireworks, her mouth parted in awe.

Chanyeol didn't understand why he couldn't stop. He had to let go of her hand.

But he couldn't.

Chanyeol couldn't take it anymore. He let go of Nari's hand, only to move it to her neck and pull her closer to him, causing her to turn her head towards him. Before she could react, however, Chanyeol pressed his lips against hers. She kept her eyes open for a few seconds in surprise, but closed them and kissed him back. Chanyeol moved his other hand up to cup her other cheek, continuing to kiss her.

He couldn't turn back now.


	8. Sensuality

Three months later, Chanyeol and Nari's relationship had gotten immensely better. They still had their fights and raillery, but they certainly didn't hate each other. Their feelings rapidly grew for each other as they gradually developed a relationship. Nari continued her job as usual and accepted the large amount of pay, putting it in her and her father's savings for a time when they would need it. She was happier than she's been in a long time. However, her happiness came with a negative side. She was growing weaker, and the pain spread from her leg to her entire body with each healing session. She started to have more headaches and nosebleeds and was physically exhausted. She pushed through it without a peep, though, knowing it was worth it if she got to remain by Chanyeol's side.

Chanyeol, on the other hand, barely noticed the state she was in. He would occasionally worry about her when she randomly would fall asleep on the couch, or breathe heavier with every step she took. He would ask her but she would tell him she was fine, so he believed her.

Nari found it harder to keep her relationship with Chanyeol a secret, not wanting to risk her dad or Dom and Gong Joo from finding out about it. If they found out she was romantically involved. they would be smart enough to realize she's been healing him, so she would rather just keep everything the way it was.

It was currently morning and Nari was at the cafe, sweeping the floors. She woke up with a headache and a bloody nose but managed to get herself out of bed to come to work. She had a lot of free time lately since she quit her old job, so she felt like she had to work even harder.

"Nari? Nari? Nari!" Dom called, waving his hand in front of Nari's face.

Nari snapped her head up from her chin leaning on her hand that was on the tip of the broom stick.

Dom frowned, putting his hand down. "Are you okay? You've been doing this for about a month now, and you've become so pale..."

Nari smiled reassuringly and nodded. "I'm okay. I think I'm just coming down with a cold."

Dom stared at her blankly. "You said that a month ago."

Nari blinked her eyes repeatedly, trying to remember when she said that. "Oh. Well I really am this time."

Dom narrowed his eyes before taking the broom away from her. "Go home and rest." he demanded sternly.

Nari frowned and snatched the broom back. "I'm okay."

Dom grabbed the broom a second time. "No you're not."

Nari huffed and grabbed the broom, holding it away from him this time. "Yes. I am."

Before Dom could take it a third time, Gong Joo came up from behind Nari and snatched the broom away instead. "Do as Dom says for once."

Dom nodded but then paused and looked at Gong Joo, alarmed. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Gong Joo ignored him and crossed her arms, looking down at Nari. "You've been worrying the both of us for a while now. If you don't go home, I'm kicking you out myself."

Nari looked at Gong Joo, a little taken aback by how serious she was. Gong Joo was like a mom to her, so of course she would worry, but it still made her feel a bit bad.

"I-I can't just leave you guys here by yourselves..." Nari pushed.

Gong Joo motioned around the cafe. "No one's even here yet. It'll just be another slow day, so don't worry."

Dom nodded in agreement. "Yeah! Me and Gong Joo got this." he said cheerfully.

Nari sighed, knowing that there was probably no way out of this. Her body did ache, and she knew she should probably get some more rest before going to Chanyeol's.

Before she could say anything, Nari's nose started to bleed. "Ah! Nari, your nose is bleeding!" Dom panicked before running to go get a napkin, sprinting back and handing it to Nari as Gong Joo stayed with her.

Nari tilted her head back and pinched the bridge of her nose while holding the napkin under her nostrils to stop the blood from dripping down. Gong Joo gazed down at her in worry, knowing that something was definitely not right. She didn't want to assume the worst, but she had a bad feeling it was exactly that.

After Nari was taken care of and her nose stopped bleeding, she was sent home. She immediately went to her room, struggling just to get up the stairs. Before she could make it fully up the stairs, she collapsed on the last step, her ears starting to ring and her head spinning.

She couldn't risk her dad seeing her like this, so she dragged herself to her room and climbed in bed. She was expecting this to happen. She dreaded it, but she couldn't bring herself to stop it. She just really hoped she wouldn't end up like her mom. After she started feeling a little better, she finally fell asleep.

_

The next morning seemed to come by a little too quick.

Nari bolted up in her bed and quickly looked at the time, gasping. "I slept for a whole day?"

She looked at her phone which had multiple missed called and text messages, five from Dom, three from Gong Joo, and twenty from Chanyeol. She felt bad for making everyone worry, but was also just surprised at how long she was asleep.

She figured she should call them all back, starting with Gong Joo.

The phone rang a few times before picking up. "Why didn't you answer your phone? Do you know how worried we were?"

Nari looked down, feeling guilty. "I'm sorry... I fell asleep."

She heard Gong Joo scoff. "For an entire day?"

"I really did... I guess I was tired." Nari confirmed, rubbing the back of her neck.

Gong Joo wa silent for a few seconds before speaking. "Nari... Tell me what's going on."

Nari tensed up. "There's nothing going on... I've just been-"

"Nari. I'm not stupid. You're sick, but not just cold sick." Gong Joo interrupted.

Nari hated lying to Gong Joo like this. "Then maybe I have the flu."

"Have you been healing Chanyeol?" Gong Joo blurted out.

Nari wided her eyes, shocked at the sudden accusation of hers. "W-What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean. That boy has cancer and you're healing him whenever he is in pain, aren't you?"

Nari felt her heart race. She knew she couldn't keep this up much longer. She had no more excuses left.

"O-Of course not..." Nari muttered.

She could feel Gong Joo getting angrier. "Nari, don't lie to me." she said sternly.

Nari tried to think of another excuse, or just something to say, but she couldn't. "Okay... I have, but it's not a big deal." she gave in.

Gong Joo sighed. "Nari... You can't do that anymore. You know what will happen. You'll-"

Nari tuned out Gong Joo when her father walked into her room, not even knocking. She looked up at him, surprised to see him.

"We need to talk." he said, anger written on his awkward face.

Nari immediately understood the situation, bringing the phone back to her lips. "You said something, didn't you?"

She heard Gong Joo hesitate. "I had to, Nari. I didn't even need an explanation from you to know what you've been doing. It's for your safety."

"But my dad?" Nari questioned, upset at her.

"Nari." he called, once again.

Nari hung up the phone and looked up at her dad with a dismayed expression. "Dad. Let me explain."

"I don't need an explanation. Are you out of your mind? What made you think it was okay to heal someone? I told you specifically never to use that ability!" her father scolded.

Nari was more shocked at how much he spoke to her than being upset at his scolding, but it was still hard to handle. She's never gotten in trouble before. She got in more trouble with Gong Joo more than anyone.

"I know you did, but-" she began.

"If you knew then why did you go do something like this? Especially to a boy with what, cancer? Cancer?" he interrogated, raising his voice.

Nari stayed silent, turning her head away from him.

"How long have you been healing him? Talk to me, please!" he shouted.

Nari flinched at his shouting and looked up at him. "Now you want to talk to me?"

Her father was taken aback by her words but remained angry. "Excuse me?"

Nari got out of bed and stood up, feeling better than she did yesterday. "Since when have I been a concern of yours? All you seem to care about is work!"

Her father pushed up his glasses. "That's not true." he denied, calming down a bit.

Nari bit her lower lip in frustration. "It is. Ever since mom died, work has been the only thing you care about."

By the mention of his wife, he tensed up, not saying anything.

Nari nodded, feeling tears prick her eyes. "I'm right, aren't I? You've been so depressed that all you can do is drown out your pain in your work and ignore the world around you, especially your own daughter."

He raised his head. "We aren't talking about this right now. We are talking about the boy you've been healing."

Nari shook her head. "Then when will we talk about it? I've never heard mom's name come from your mouth since she died. It feels like she's really gone, and it feels like you resent me for it."

Her father rubbed his temples, sighing heavily.

Nari felt tears roll down her cheeks. "There you go again, staying silent."

Her father looked at her. "You're not allowed to see that boy anymore."

Nari clenched her fists. "I really like him, dad. Can't you let me save one person, at least?"

"All you'll be doing is killing yourself like you did your mother!" he snapped, his fists clenched as well.

Nari felt her heart drop into her stomach at his words, her voice getting caught in her throat.

Her father immediately regretted what he said, not actually believing it. He just got so angry.

"Nari... I didn't-" he began, but Nari walked passed him and out of the room before he could say anything else.

She grabbed her jacket once she made it downstairs, keeping the clothes that she had on yesterday on as well as the shoes she never took off and shoved her phone into her pocket, making her way out of the house and down the street. Her father remained in her room, tears streaming down his face. He regretted what he has said to her, feeling extremely guilty.

Nari took out her phone and called Chanyeol, sniffling as she waited for him to pick up.

"Nari?" he answered worriedly, only two rings in.

"Can I come over?" Nari asked, wiping her eyes.

Chanyeol got even more worried. "Right now?"

"Yes." Nari replied, hoping he'd say yes.

"Uh, yeah. Of course. Are you okay?" he asked, hearing her sniffles.

"Thank you." she said before hanging up.

When she got there, Chanyeol let her in through the gate and opened the front door, only for her to immediately wrap her arms around his waist and bury her face in his chest.

Chanyeol widened his eyes, surprised, before wrapping his arms around her. She trembled in his embrace, letting herself cry since she tried her best to hold it in on the walk here. She held him tightly, clutching the back of his shirt. Chanyeol knew it wouldn't be a good idea to say anything, so he just let her cry, rubbing her back and stroking her hair comfortingly.

After about ten minutes of just standing like that at the front door, Nari finally stopped crying and Chanyeol led her to the front room, sitting her on the couch.

It actually broke his heart seeing her like this. He saw her crying once, but back then he didn't care. Now, it physically hurt.

He put a hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay now?"

Nari nodded, wiping the excess wetness off her face and sniffling. "Yes. Thank you."

Chanyeol wondered if he should ask her what's wrong, but he figured he shouldn't or else she might cry again. So he chose to stay quiet until she was comfortable talking.

He reached up and wiped under her eyes with his thumbs. Nari looked up at him, seeing the worry and slight awkwardness on his face. It made her sad to know no matter how much she liked him, they weren't meant to be together. If she kept healing him, she might die. If she stopped healing him, he would be in constant pain, and eventually die. She hated the reality of it all.

She leaned up and gave Chanyeol a small kiss on the lips, catching him slightly off guard.

Chanyeol blinked. "What was that for...?"

Nari smiled at him, shaking her head. "Just a thank you."

Chanyeol nodded slowly, a smile forming onto his face. "I didn't do anything though."

"You did a lot." Nari stated.

Chanyeol didn't know what he had done, but he was satisfied with the reward so he didn't complain.

_

By the time night came, Nari was still at his house. She knew she would have to go home, but she dreaded going so soon. She didn't know how she could face her father after the argument they had.

As Chanyeol was preparing to get in the shower, Nari leaned against the closet door while Chanyeol picked out the towel he needed.

"Do you think I could spend the night?" she asked bluntly.

Chanyeol, taken aback, snapped his head towards her. "Spend the night?"

Nari nodded humbly, biting her lower lip. "Just for one night..."

Chanyeol's mind started racing with thoughts. She wants to spend the night? Is that appropriate? Did she get kicked out of her house? Does she want to sleep with me? My parents aren't home...

Chanyeol cleared his throat. "S-Sure."

Nari saw his flustered expression and laughed nervously. "Don't worry... I'll just sleep on the floor. I don't want to anything else with you either." she clarified, her cheeks flushing.

Chanyeol gulped at the thought, turning his head away from her. "I-I wasn't even thinking like that. Excuse me."

He grabbed a towel and closed the closet door, turning and shutting the bathroom door behind him.

Nari watched after him and scoffed, touching her cheeks with her hands. "He makes a big deal out of everything..."

She made her way down the hall but stopped when she saw Chanyeol's door. She's never been in there before and wondered what it looked like. Was it manly? Was it feminine? Would she find out his deepest darkest secret?

Her curiosity got the best of her, slowly opening his bedroom door and entering quietly. When she looked around, she was surprised to see that it was quite smaller than what she thought it would be. It was simple and manly, not at all matching the rest of the house. She strolled around, looking at his desk to see portraits of him and his mother together. She smiled at it, glancing over to see a baby photo of him.

She picked it up. "He was a lot cuter as a baby." she mumbled to herself, chuckling.

She continued to look around his room but suddenly heard a loud thump come from the bathroom.

She rushed out of the room and went up to the door, knocking. "Chanyeol? Are you okay?"

She heard groaning from behind the door, making her think of something slightly dirty. "Are you...-"

She heard another groan, this time it sounding more painful than sexual. "Chanyeol?" she knocked again.

"A-Ah... M-My leg.." he groaned from inside.

Nari panicked, wanting badly to go in and heal him. However, there was a slight problem: He was naked.

"What do I do? I have to help him." Nari mumbled to herself, frowning.

She kept listening to him moan in pain, biting her lip nervously.

She shook her head and took off her jacket, leaving her in a white tank top. "Great day to wear white." she complained, scolding herself.

She took off her shoes and took a deep breath before opening the bathroom door, shutting it behind her, and looking over to where Chanyeol was lying on the shower floor, all his glory fully visible, clutching his knee.

Nari gasped when she caught a glimpse of what she definitely did not want to see, closing her eyes immediately and blushing madly.

"You're an adult, Nari. This is business." she whispered to herself before opening her eyes just enough to see where she was going as she walked over to the shower.

She opened the shower door and climbed in, closing the door behind her so none of the water would get out. The shower head immediately soaked her as she got onto her knees and inched over to Chanyeol.

Chanyeol glanced at her but was in too much pain to care about the situation at the moment.

"J-Just stay still. I'll help you." Nari ordered as she squinted, trying not to get water in her eyes.

She put her hands on his bare leg, cringing at the wet, hairy feeling of it. She took a deep breath and started to heal him, the pain transferring quicker than it ever has. She gasped from the pain but bit her lower lip to stifle it, shutting her eyes tightly. She trembled slightly, finding it strangely difficult to heal him.

Once she healed him fully and Chanyeol calmed down, she took her hands off and collapsed to the side, hitting her head on the wall of the shower. Chanyeol widened his eyes and sat up, moving onto his side so that he was looking down at Nari.

He hovered over her and put his hand behind her neck, moving the wet strands of hair out of her face. She kept her eyes closed, breathing heavily from the pain she was trying to keep hidden. Chanyeol leaned his face closer to make sure she was still breathing, the water spraying down on him instead of her now. Drops of water fell onto her face from his hair and chin.

"Nari?" he called, worried since she wasn't responding.

Fortunately, Nari opened her eyes right away, immediately locking her eyes with his. She stared at him for a few seconds, her cheeks turning red.

Chanyeol noticed her flushed cheeks before realizing the position they were in. He was wet and naked on top of her who was also wet, her shirt see-through as well. Chanyeol cleared his throat, blinking repeatedly, before getting off of her.

Nari sat up so she was beside him, accidentally catching another glimpse. She immediately closed her eyes and looked away, her body feeling extremely hot.

They both got out of the shower and turned it off, Chanyeol immediately putting a towel on himself and getting one for her as well.

"Take off your clothes." Chanyeol ordered.

Nari looked up at him in surprise. "What?" she questioned, taken aback by his sudden demand. This is going too fast...she thought.

Chanyeol rubbed the back of his neck. "Your clothes are all wet. I'm going to go get you something else to wear." he clarified before walking out of the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

Nari stood there, completely embarrassed of her own thoughts. "What are you thinking, stupid?" she scolded herself, hitting her head lightly.

Her leg was still hurting, but it wasn't bad, and her body wasn't feeling too weak. She figured maybe it was only sometimes it would affect her. She hoped so. She took her clothes off as ordered and wrapped herself in the towel.

Chanyeol knocked on the door to make sure it was okay to come in before entering, stopping in his tracks as he saw her with only the towel on. He should have told her to take her clothes off after he got her the clothes. He cleared his throat and looked away, holding the clothes out to her.

"Sorry if they're too big..." he apologized.

Nari took the clothes and smiled at him. "Thank you."

Chanyeol left the bathroom to let her change, going into his room to change into some clothes as well. As Nari got dressed, she couldn't help but to think about what had just happened in the shower, a blush appearing on her face.

"His body was...pretty nice..." she mumbled, an idiotic smile on her face.

She giggled and shook her head, finishing up. His clothes were baggy on her, but they sure were comfy. She made her way back to Chanyeol's room with the towel on her head, knocking on the already opened door. When she saw him fully clothed, she entered the room and walked up to him. When he looked at her, he tried his hardest not to smile, finding her dressed in his clothes extremely cute.

"Is your leg okay now?" she asked, not knowing what else to really say because of the awkwardness.

Chanyeol looked at her, nodding. "Oh... Yeah, it is. Thanks to you."

Nari nodded, looking around as though to pretend she wasn't in his room before. "I, um, like your room."

Chanyeol looked around along with her. "Thank you. It's cozy."

Nari nodded. "I bet it is."

Chanyeol looked away, silence surrounding them.

They both felt the awkwardness enclose them, so Chanyeol walked over to Nari and took the towel that was on her head and started drying her hair. "You didn't dry your hair all the way."

Nari looked up at him and chuckled. "Whoops."

Chanyeol tried to avoid eye contact but couldn't help to look down at her face. He didn't understand how he hated her so much in the beginning. She tried to help him until the end, even jumping into the shower with him just to do so. He didn't know how he became so lucky. He would have been dead if it wasn't for her. Maybe it was a sign they belonged together, but at the same time, the world tried so hard to split them apart. He dreaded that more than anything.

Chanyeol stopped drying her hair, suddenly pulling her into a hug. He wrapped his arms around her tightly and put his chin on the towel that was perched on her head. Nari didn't react immediately, but eventually wrapped her arms around his waist.

No words were said for a few minutes as they stood there. Chanyeol held her close, dreading to let her go.

"I think I love you." Chanyeol said suddenly, not letting go of her.

Nari didn't say anything, shocked by the sudden revelation of his feelings.

Chanyeol started to get worried when she didn't say anything, so he let her go and smiled down at her. "Don't say anything."

Nari looked up at him and was about to speak, but Chanyeol leaned close to her face. "I said don't say anything. I'll kiss you if you do."

Nari was confused by his sudden change of emotion. "But-"

She was cut off when he suddenly wrapped one arm around her waist and pulled her close to him, kissing her lips.

He pulled away after a few seconds. "I warned you."

Nari felt her heart race and her cheeks flush. "T-That's not fair. You should hear me out after saying something like that!" she whined.

Chanyeol smirked playfully. "I don't want to though."

Nari scoffed. "What if I tell you-"

She was again caught off when he pressed his lips against hers, only a peck this time. "I'll keep kissing you if you don't stop talking. Let me remind you that we are in my bedroom," he continued. "alone."

That was enough to make Nari shut up, her cheeks turning even redder. She cleared her throat and turned away from him, walking to the side of his bed.

"I'm tired." she said, immediately covering her mouth with her hand so he won't try to kiss her again.

Chanyeol chuckled at her actions, watching her kneel down so she was on the ground. He frowned and walked over to her, grabbing her hand and yanking her back up.

"Sleep on my bed. I'll sleep on the floor." he told her.

Nari shook her head. "I'll sleep on the floor. I'm the guest."

Chanyeol put his hands on her shoulders and guided her so she sat on the bed. "Guests deserve better treatment than the floor."

Nari frowned but gave in, knowing how stubborn he was. "Then... Sleep with me on the bed."

Chanyeol didn't know how to respond, looking away awkwardly. "I don't think that's...-"

"Nothing will happen. I'm too tired anyways." she reassured, picking her feet up so her entire body was on the bed.

Chanyeol thought for a few moments before accepting her offer. "Alright."

He made his way over to the other side of the bed and got in, both of them moving so they were under the covers. They laid down on their sides awkwardly, a good distance between them.

Chanyeol reached over and turned the light off before going back to the same position. Nari didn't move, only shifting her body slightly. There was only silence between them before Chanyeol finally broke the silence.

"Did you happen to see...-" he whispered, turning his head to face her.

Nari picked up immediately what he was saying, blushing. "N-No."

Chanyeol relaxed a bit, but still felt awkward. "Oh...okay.."

Nari bit her lower lip. "Actually... I did." she confessed, immediately turning so her back was facing him.

Chanyeol's face flushed and he closed his eyes, clearing his throat. "O-Oh.."

Silence fell over them again, both of them attempting to fall asleep. However, neither of them could. Nari kept adjusting herself, flipping around until she was comfortable. She continued doing that until Chanyeol moved onto his side and put his hands on her shoulders, both of them facing each other. Nari looked up at Chanyeol, her face inches from his.

"You sure do move a lot." he said quietly, just barely making out her face in the darkness.

Nari gave him a shy smile, her hands resting on his chest. "I lied when I said I was tired."

Chanyeol continued to look at her, a serious, yet loving expression on his face. He moved his hand so it was below her chin and leaned down, pressing his lips against hers. Nari closed her eyes and kissed him back, her hands moving up to his neck.

They continued to kiss before Chanyeol pulled away, the tips of their noses still touching. "We should go to bed." he whispered.

Nari cupped Chanyeol's cheek with her hand. "I think I love you too, Chanyeol."

Chanyeol stared down at her face, her beautiful features becoming even more visible to him. Chanyeol wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him, her having to wrap her bare legs around him for that to be possible. He leaned down once against and kissed her, this time with more passion. Nari kissed him back, wrapping her arms around his neck.

The warm and sensual night prolonged, both Chanyeol and Nari savoring every bit of it.


	9. Revelation

The next morning, Chanyeol was the first to wake up. He opened his eyes half way, getting used to the light that was shining through the cracks of his window. He looked down at the sleeping beauty he had wrapped in his arms, her bare body pressed against his. He smiled, moving her bangs out of the way before leaning down and kissing her forehead. Nari woke up to the sweet gesture, her eyes fluttering open to meet his. She gave him a tired smile and leaned up, pecking his lips before laying her head onto his warm chest.

Chanyeol stroked her hair softly. "I'll go make us some coffee." he whispered.

He kissed the top of her head before sitting up and climbing out of bed, getting dressed. Nari watched him exit the room before sitting up as well, stretching her body a little before covering her naked body with the blanket.

She smiled, happy with things as they were. She hoped none of it would ever end.

She lazily grabbed the clothes Chanyeol let her borrow off the ground and shimmied them on while laying down, too tired to actually get up.

She eventually got the motivation to get up, sliding out of bed. As she stood up, she started to feel a little lightheaded. She ignored it, thinking she just got up too fast, and walked out of the room. As she was walking down the stairs, she began to get dizzy as well, swaying a bit as she made it down the stairs successfully.

Chanyeol filled the cups with coffee before making his way to where she was, spotting her. He smiled at her, but his smile faded when he saw how pale she was. He put the the cups down on the nearby table.

"Nari?" he called.

As Nari walked towards him, her nose started to bleed. She became more dizzy and her body began to collapse without her processing it, everything suddenly turning black.

The last thing she heard was Chanyeol calling her name and feeling him shake her and pick her up.

Nari was taken to the hospital, a different doctor taking care of her this time instead of the one that treated her allergic reaction.

Chanyeol waited in the waiting room, way more nervous than last time. He didn't understand what happened to her. Everything was so good. He ran his fingers through his hair, ruffling it violently in frustration.

Finally, the doctor called Chanyeol in. When Chanyeol walked into the room where Nari was, he saw monitors hooked up to her in many places. He felt tears fill his eyes but he held them back, knowing he couldn't lose it yet. He had hope.

"The good news is, she's okay." the doctor said, making Chanyeol look away from Nari and at the doctor.

He felt relieved to hear she was okay, but was still uneasy. "And the bad news?"

The doctor looked at her, shaking his head. "We don't know what's wrong with her. All we know is that her bones are growing brittle, and her blood pressure is through the roof. Usually we could identify the cause, but it's strange this time. She has no sicknesses, no history of illness, no genetic mutations, no ancestral diseases. If we don't know the reason, we don't know how to treat her."

Chanyeol didn't know how to respond, sighing heavily. "Then what are you doing right now?"

"We're just making sure she's stable for now and putting her on sleeping pills so she could rest. That seems like the best option for now." the doctor replied.

Chanyeol ran his hand through his hair. "Okay. Thank you. Have you contacted her father?"

Right as Chanyeol said that, her father opened the door and rushed into the room. He glanced at Chanyeol once before moving to his daughter, walking over to her. He held Nari's hand, bowing his head.

"What happened?" he asked, obvious that he was running here since he was out of breath.

Chanyeol and the doctor looked at each other before the doctor nodded his head to Chanyeol, taking his leave.

Chanyeol made his way to the other side of Nari. "She collapsed this morning at my house. The doctor said he doesn't know what's wrong with her, but her bones are-"

"You fool." her father said, putting his hand on his forehead.

Chanyeol stopped what he was saying and looked up at her father. "Excuse me?"

Her father looked up at Chanyeol. He motioned for Chanyeol to follow him outside of the hospital room, closing the door behind him.

Her father turned towards Chanyeol, trying his best not to get too mad at him. "Do you know why she's in that state?"

Chanyeol shook his head, not even thinking deeply about it.

Her father sighed and put his hands in his pockets. "When was the first time she started healing you?"

Chanyeol blinked, not knowing that her father knew about that. She mentioned once before that he couldn't know.

"Um," he began, not wanting to mention how he tried to kill himself. "About half a year ago when we met."

It pained her father to know it went on that long without him knowing. After Nari left yesterday, he reflected on how he had been acting. How could he enforce something upon his daughter when he wasn't even being a good father? She was right about everything. He wanted to be better, and if he got the chance to, he would.

"That's when it all started." her father told him.

Chanyeol furrowed his eyebrows. "When what started?"

Her father lead Chanyeol to two chairs on the other side of the hall, both of them sitting down.

"Let me explain to you something." her father told Chanyeol.

Chanyeol nodded, listening.

"My wife died when Nari was six years old. She was a woman who would do anything for anyone she loved or felt sorry for. She loved me and Nari more than anything, and we definitely loved her. However, she always suffered. She had the ability to heal people, but whatever pain she took away, the pain transferred upon herself, but she took it all with a smile, just like Nari. She almost died many times because of this curse. She was kind and loved people too much. By the time Nari was born, Nari inherited the curse. Being too small, she couldn't handle it. Nari suffered from so much pain and constantly had high fevers. Because of this, my wife healed her, even when her limit was being pushed. She healed her over and over until Nari could finally use the power herself. By that time, her mother had died." her father explained, trying hard not to let the tears in his eyes slip.

Chanyeol felt tears in his eyes as well. So it was all his fault... He caused Nari all that pain, and never knew. He made her heal him without knowing he was killing her.

Tears rolled down his cheeks and he hung his head.

Her father was unable to be mad at him, understanding that he didn't know. He reached his hand out and patted Chanyeol's shoulder.

"It's not your fault. My daughter is just too stubborn to understand sometimes." he comforted.

Chanyeol ignored her father's comforting words and got off the chair, falling to his knees in front of her father. "I'm so sorry..." he choked out.

Taken aback by the sudden kneeling, her father started to feel awkward, just like how he usually was. "There's no need to do that..."

Chanyeol kept his head hung, not being able to look him in the eye. "I'm so sorry." he said, tear drops splashing onto the floor below him.

One of the nurses came out of the room that Nari was in and walked over to the two men. "The patient is awake now."

Her father nodded to the woman, looking back down to Chanyeol who was still crying on the floor. He stood up and sighed, kneeling down to Chanyeol and patting his back lightly before heading into the room.

Chanyeol stayed on the ground for a while longer before slowly standing up, making his way over to the door to Nari's hospital room. He looked through the window to see Nari talking to her father, both of them looking as though they were talking things out. Chanyeol wanted so badly to go in and talk to her, tell her how sorry and worried he is, how much he loves her, and how much he's going to miss her.

As Nari glanced towards the window, feeling as though someone was watching, Chanyeol moved away so he wasn't in her view. Nari frowned when she saw no one, hoping it would have been Chanyeol.

Chanyeol slowly moved away from the door, closing his eyes as tears fell down his cheeks. He turned around and started to walk down the hall, feeling his heart shatter with every step.

Back in the room with Nari, her father didn't say anything about Chanyeol finding out, not saying anything about him.

Nari frowned, looking at her father who was reading a book on the chair beside her. "He didn't come by once?"

Her father looked up at her before sighing, feeling bad. "You weren't asleep that long. He must have had something he had to go do after dropping you off."

Nari faced the ceiling again, sad that he wasn't here. She wanted to reassure him that she was okay and explain everything to him. Maybe just leave out the part about her dying.

Nari turned to look at him again. "Are you sure-"

"Nari." her father gave her a warning look that told her to stop asking, paining him every time she looked at him with such sad eyes.

Nari closed her mouth and sighed, turning on her side so her back was facing her father. "I miss him." she mumbled, laying her head on her arm.

_

A week later after Nari was discharged, she decided to pay Chanyeol a visit. He didn't visit her at all while she was in the hospital, so she was worried if something had happened to him. She wondered if he had possibly found out about everything, which is why he was being distant. If that was the case, she wanted to talk to him about it.

She knocked on his front door, waiting for someone to answer. When the door opened, Leigha appeared. She was expecting a cheerful greeting and invitation inside, but instead Leigha's excitement seemed fake.

Leigha chuckled nervously. "Nari! What a surprise! I heard you were in the hospital. Are you okay now?"

Nari nodded, grinning. "I'm completely better. I'm sorry if I worried you. Is Chanyeol home?"

Leigha's smile faltered a bit, becoming a bit uneasy. "Um... No, actually. He's out with his friends."

Nari frowned, not realizing he had any friends.

"I'm sorry, dear. I'll tell him you were here though." Leigha exclaimed.

Nari nodded before remembering something. "Oh, can I still work here?"

Leigha scratched her head and thought for a moment before shaking her head. "Actually... I think it would be best if you didn't come anymore. I'll mail you your last paycheck tonight."

Nari knew something was wrong at this point, but she knew it would be rude to ask about it. "Why?"

Leigha cleared her throat, looking around for an excuse to leave. "Oh! My apologies, I have a chicken in the oven. Keep a look out for your paycheck!"

Before Nari could respond, Leigha shut the door in Nari's face.

Nari sighed and turned around, walking down the driveway and out the gate. "I didn't hear a timer." she mumbled to herself.

_

Nari kept trying to visit Chanyeol for about a month after that, never getting a response or even a glimpse of him. She finally gave up after one last visit, making her way down to the outside shopping center. She walked around with her head down, a permanent frown on her face.

She just wanted to see him once.

As if her wish came true, she looked up and saw a familiar looking face. Her heart started to race as she gazed at the side view of a tall figure standing by the flower cart. Not even thinking, she began to run over to him, not caring that she was still a little weak from being in the hospital. She had to stop running when two men carrying a large painting crossed the sidewalk, blocking her view. When they passed her, she was about to start running again but saw that the figure had disappeared.

"No... He was definitely there." she whispered to herself, walking over to the cart.

She glanced at the elderly lady running the cart but didn't even think to ask her about him, feeling tears well up in her eyes.

"I know he was here... I saw him.." she said, trying hard not to cry.

After looking around in circles for the tenth time, she put her hands over her face as she started to cry. The elderly lady rushed out from behind the cart and put a hand on Nari's back.

"Don't cry, child." she comforted.

Nari sobbed into her hands, not even caring about the attention she was bringing to herself.

_

Another two months passed and every day, she would go back to the shopping center just to try and find him again, especially checking the flower cart. Sometimes he would be there, but he would always disappear before she got the chance to approach him. By now, she was wondering if she was just seeing things, or worse, seeing a ghost. She got the chills whenever she thought about that, hoping that wasn't anywhere near true.

Nari wasn't expecting to see him again, even if she did, she wouldn't get to talk to him. She walked down the sidewalk, her head hanging down as usual now.

As she was walking, she accidentally bumped into someone, immediately bowing her head. "I'm sorry."

When she looked up at the person who she bumped into to see who it was, she felt her heart beat faster, her voice caught in her throat.

"Chanyeol..." she muttered, barely being able to say that.

It was really him. Chanyeol was standing right in front of her, looking down at her. She couldn't believe it. She wasn't crazy.

A smile began to appear on her face as both her and Chanyeol stared at each other. "Chanyeol." she repeated.

She expected Chanyeol to be happy to see her, or even angry to see her. It was okay if he was angry at her for lying to him. It was okay if he hated her. She just wanted to hear his voice; to hear that he missed her too.

But what he said wasn't anything like that.

"Do you know me?" he asked with a straight, confused face.

Nari felt her heart shatter into tiny pieces at his words, her smile fading. "You don't... remember me?"

Chanyeol crossed his arms. "Am I supposed to?" he questioned coldly.

This wasn't right. He wasn't Chanyeol. It couldn't be, but it definitely was.

Nari felt tears prick her eyes. "If you're doing this because of what happened...-"

"Look, if you know me, I'm sorry, but I have somewhere to be." he said before pushing passed her, his shoulder bumping into hers.

Nari didn't even turn around to watch him leave, tears streaming down her cheeks. She slowly turned around to see him walk away, feeling as though he took her heart with him.


	10. Ephemeral

3 Years Later

"What would you guys like?" Nari asked, serving two customers.

"A caramel macchiato for me, and an americano for my lovely jewel." Dom said to his girlfriend of two years.

"I said don't call me that in public." the pretty brunette said, embarrassed, smacking Dom's shoulder lightly.

Dom smiled and kissed the girl's cheek. "But I have to make sure everyone knows you're my jewel."

Nari chuckled at Dom's behavior and shook her head, heading to the back to make their drinks.

Nari finally had moved on from what happened three years ago. Of course, she still yearns to see Chanyeol every day, keeping that little bit of hope close to her. Her life has been good though. Her and her dad's relationship was a lot better. He quit his job at the writing company after being offered a bigger deal, which lengthened his due dates and expanded his area of writing. He began to write children's books instead, finding it a lot better for him. To make up for everything he did in the past, he went through with his decision to be a better dad. Him and Nari go out on dinner dates and hang out at the cafe sometimes together. They eat dinner together every night and talk about their days.

Nari and Gong Joo have also been back on good terms. If anything, they grew even closer. Dom quit working at the cafe but continues to come every day to see Nari and Gong Joo, sometimes even bringing his new girlfriend.

She was also a barista now, which has been her dream ever since she was seventeen.

After serving the drinks to Dom and his girlfriend, she went back behind the cash register to take another customers order.

"Welcome, what would you like to order?" Nari asked, not looking up right away.

When Nari looked up to see who the customer was, she was surprised to see Leigha standing in front of her. She stood there with her hands behind her back and a small smile on her face.

Nari didn't know what to say or how to feel, all the memories of three years ago flashing back at her at once. Of course she wasn't fully over it, so she felt some resentment when she looked at Leigha.

Leigha cleared her throat, finally deciding to speak. "It's been a while, Nari," she began. "I know it might be tough for you to see me right now."

Nari moved her eyes to the floor, not knowing what to say.

"You don't have to say anything, but I would like to give you something." Leigha said, noticing Nari's silence.

Nari slowly nodded, allowing Leigha to reveal what was behind her back. It was an envelop with nothing written on it. Leigha handed it to Nari over the counter, Nari taking it and examining it.

"Don't read it until you get home. There's a reason for giving this to you now, so I hope you understand once you read it." Leigha exclaimed.

Nari felt uneasy but nodded, agreeing to do as she said. "Thank you."

Leigha smiled softly and nodded. "I'll take my leave now. Work hard."

With that, Leigha turned and made her out of the cafe, disappearing around the corner.

Nari looked back down at the letter, wondering what it could be. Maybe a missed paycheck from three years ago?

After work ended, Nari made her way back home, anxious to see what was in the envelop. She greeted her father before running up the stairs, shutting her bedroom door behind her. She took a deep breath before carefully ripping the envelop open to reveal multiple folded lined pieces of paper. She took them out and opened them up, sitting on her bed as she started to read.

"Dear Nari,

I don't know when you'll read this, but I just wanted to say I'm sorry for everything. It's been almost three years already, and I haven't stopped thinking about you. I know I hurt you, even before leaving. I couldn't blame myself more, but I hope you'll forgive me for the pain I caused you. Seeing you everyday, ignoring you, telling my mom to lie, it was all so painful to me. I'm writing this letter now because it's 3 am and I can't sleep. The doctors and nurses keep coming in to check on me, which leads me to what I wanted to tell you.

I don't know what happened, but I think the world is getting back at me for thinking I could be happily in love and live a normal life. I wanted more than anything to stay by your side, but that was a selfish wish. While seeing you smile in front of me and take every inch of pain away, you were hurting. You were suffering, but you continued to heal me and love me. I want to sincerely thank you for that, and thank you for making my life worth living. You were my addiction, but sadly, I overdosed.

The reason I'm in the hospital right now is not just for a check up, but because the cancer has finally spread throughout my body. It's currently taking over everything. I knew this would happen eventually, but I forgot about my inevitable demise when I started to fall in love with you. I began to want to live and prosper. I began to wish for a longer life, all because I wanted you to be next to me the entire time. Though, I don't think that was meant to happen.

The doctor said I don't have that much time to live. I was fifteen when they last said that to me the first time, so I don't know whether to believe them or not, but if you're reading this, it must have been true.

I'm really sorry for not coming back to you sooner. I wish I had treasured you longer than I got to. I've missed you so much and it physically hurts not being able to see you. I hope you have lived a happy life without any pain. I hope you are listening to your father and getting along with him, because I won't be there to shelter you away again. Oh, and tell your friend that even though I'm gone, he's not allowed to have you.

I should end this letter now. Thank you again for being in my life and making me feel what real happiness was. I hope we can meet again in our second life. I'll keep fighting the cancer until it takes over because that's what you taught me to do. Keep fighting and wait for things to turn out okay. I'll continue to miss you with all my heart, and I don't think anymore, I know for sure that I love you, and will forever love you. Continue to smile and live a happy life for me. Goodbye, Nari. 

Love,

Chanyeol"

Nari was in tears. She fell to her knees on the floor and sobbed her heart out, shaking her head vigorously. She clutched her shirt tightly by her heart, continuing to cry until she could no longer feel anything.

Once she stopped crying, she went downstairs with the letter and handed it to her dad to read. After reading it, he wrapped his arms around Nari as she began to cry again, rubbing her back as she sobbed into his chest.

"He's gone," Nari choked out. "He's really gone."

Her father didn't say anything, stroking her hair.

"He's such an idiot. He's horrible. I hate him." she sobbed out, not meaning anything of those things.

"I miss him." she cried, continuing to sob without anything afterwards.

_

A few months later, Nari took the bus to the columbarium, it being about thirty minutes from where she lived in Seoul. It was right by the building where the wedding took place in Seongnam, so when she arrived, it brought back memories from that day.

She entered through the door of the columbarium with a bouquet of flowers and another item in her hands, walking slowly over to Chanyeol's urn was. It was in it's own shelf in a case near many other people's deceased loved ones were, his picture that she took of him three years ago framed beside the urn with a few other of his valued items. She sat the flowers on the empty space near the case, a tear rolling down her cheek. She took the other item in her hand and put the stuffed panda that she won for him at the Fair where they had their first kiss next to the flowers. She felt more tears drip down her face, but she put on a smile and sniffled, knowing she had to be strong in front of Chanyeol.

"I'm still mad at you for leaving, you jerk." she said, talking to his picture.

"Don't you dare be sad up there, and you better not be in any pain anymore either." she sniffed again, wiping her tears away.

"I'll only visit you a few more times after this, so try not to miss me too much." she said, trying not to cry.

"You probably think I'm crying because I miss you. It's not that at all. I just..." she paused, wiping her eyes again.

She felt tears drip down her face, putting her hand to the glass. "Why did you have to leave? We could have fought together."

She clenched her fist that wasn't on the glass and sighed, looking down.

She pulled herself together before talking again. "Okay... You caught me, I miss you, you jerk."

She took a deep breath. "I have to go. Like I said, I won't be around for a while, so don't miss me."

She took one last look at his picture before turning around, making her way out of the columbarium.

Nari visited him almost every day after that.


End file.
